Minds Eye
by bailey vicious
Summary: Slowly, but surely Hermione makes her way in to Tom Riddle's life. Personalities change. Plans change. Ideas change. But will it be enough?
1. Chapter 1

Hermione's POV

I paced my small hotel room in Muggle London, twirling my wand around in my fingers absentmindedly. Lines of worry etched into my forehead over the ideas flowing through my mind. I paused my ministrations mid-step; I put a silencing charm around the room, before I let out a howl of frustration and blew up the chair in the corner. I let out a small sob as I slumped against the wall. What was I going to do? Harry and Remus were on their way here and the final battle was to commence in approximately twenty-four minutes. I shook my head as I accepted the fact that there was nothing that could be done. Voldemort apparently figured out that Harry had destroyed his last horocrux, and then proceeded to send Harry a message requesting him to bring whomever he could to take him down. There might have been a few taunting words and jabs at the intelligence of the Order in there, too.

I closed my eyes and let my whole body slide to the ground. This is where either Voldemort wins (death and slavery, sure to follow) or Harry wins, and everything goes back to the way it should; if it could. So much loss and sorrow have followed us since the end of fifth year. Countless deaths, countless battles, ruined families, ruined lives; and the Golden Trio had miraculously been caught in the middle of it all. School had closed as Voldemort made himself known to the public, destruction following in his wake.

I use to pray for salvation. Pray for a way out of this disaster…and then we lost Ginny and Neville, then Tonks; Dean, Seamus, Flitwick, Kingsley; friends. My mother and father; family. I opened my eyes as I tried not to think about what happened the day after I turned seventeen. If I had been smart I would have moved my parents somewhere far away or put them in a safe house. Instead, I had been dumb. I convinced myself that Voldemort couldn't find them. They were Muggles, who never ventured into the wizarding world. I mistakenly thought they were safe. It was my fault my parents were dead.

I let my eyes travel to a photograph that had been blown off the night stand by the blast from my exploded chair. It was a picture of Harry, Ginny, Ron, and I from fourth year. We were at Hogwarts, somewhere on the grounds; it was a beautiful spring day. Harry had tackled Ron to the ground laughingly, while Ginny and I jumped on top of them. We rolled around a bit until Ron picked me up and threw me in the lake, Ginny close to follow. We all paused to wave at the camera, before sending Harry and Ron into the lake after us. Then it replayed.

Ronald Bilius Weasley, my best friend. Missing for two months now, kidnapped by none other than Voldemort himself. We know he isn't dead; Voldemort has made sure to send us messages of the pain he is in, the torture he goes through, and…pictures of what's being done to him. Pain rippled through my chest as I thought of Ron. So many memories; good and bad. Harry was almost more devastated than I was. I think he thought losing Ron meant we were going to lose the war. I still have faith, however miniscule it maybe, it's there. I have found myself on more occasion than one taking charge and giving commands during our battles with Death Eaters. Ron, dead or alive, would want us to keep trying…to keep fighting for what's right.

It seemed almost a decade ago that we started our training. Directly after fifth year; Harry, Ron, and I went into an intensive training regimen. We had the best of the best training us on all magic, dark and light. We trained physically and mentally to prepare us for whatever the war may bring. We knew battle tactics to dark curses to potions…to the most powerful of shield charms. Our bodies grew from regular sixteen year old kids to those of young adults; physical fitness kept our minds clear and our magic strong. Magic had become our lives. We were trained to never use verbal spells and to do basic defensive and offensive spells wandlessly. The Golden Trio had never been closer or stronger. We were a force to be reckoned with…we thought we were ready to face what the world was throwing at us and six months after that, we were murderers. I can close my eyes and see the face of the people that I've murdered…all for the 'greater good'. At least that is what I tell myself, killing Death Eaters is part of working with the Order.

Dumbledore asked us to join when we were sixteen. We declined. We had no problem working with them and coordination, but we would never join. They wanted to know too much, always. February of 1996 was a bad month for us. Albus went missing, that was a year and a half ago…the Light side had almost had a downfall. Trust issues erupted and inquiries into the personal lives of everyone were made. It was Harry who straightened everything out. It was Harry who brought us all back together and reminded us of what we were fighting for; an end. We were fighting for an end to a demented era, an era of twisted values and idolism.

For months I have been researching a way to beat our enemies once and for all. Blunt force isn't our best option. We have amazing witches and wizards on our side, but they lack the knowledge of dark and light magic for victory. Voldemort isn't stupid, he knows what he is doing and he makes sure those that follow him know what they are doing as well. I came to the conclusion, long ago, that we weren't going to win by traditional means. My research led me to something I had expected for over a year, it was an unexpected expect. If that makes sense?

I stumbled onto the idea of time travel from one of the books I nicked from the Malfoy library when we raided their house last spring. Dumbledore hinted at it before he disappeared, I guess I didn't even consider it a possibility. I knew that time couldn't change unless it was destined to…I knew this. I knew that you can't go back in time and expect to come back to the same future you once had, if you could even figure out a way to travel forward in time. I knew that if I accepted the fact that time travel could be the only answer, I would be giving up everything I have and know in this day and age.

I fingered the object around my neck in despair. Dumbledore slipped it to me the last time I saw him. The note that accompanied it merely said 'keep this around your neck at all time, you'll know what to do with it when the time comes'. I didn't understand what that meant at the time, but…I think I know now. I cradled the once time turner in my hands. Dumbledore had somehow added pieces to it and taken pieces off it, you wouldn't be able to tell it's a time turner unless you looked at the insignia on the dial. I looked down at the forsaken object in my hand only to notice that the sand around the outside of the dial had begun to spin, so quickly that it looked like it was glowing. It was glowing! Realization hit me; this must be why I've had this for so long; it was waiting for the right time. For the time when my mind decided it knew what it had to do. I had nothing to do with this at all. Dumbledore had set all of this up years ago. I heaved a shuddering breath as I sat up from where I was laying. I waved my wand around the room to fix and damage I had done. I rose on shaky feet as I walked to my bed where my knapsack was. Pre-packed as always; ready to go. I picked up the picture of my friends off the floor as I went. I didn't look at it as I shoved it into my bag.

I was afraid. I honestly had no clue what I was doing. Any inkling I had of what to do rest on the modified time turner around my neck. I had no clue where I was going, but I knew I was leaving. To…change or fix something? To stop what is happening? I wish I had some sort of say in whether or not I was willing to give up everything I have and love. But, I think he already knew the answer to that question. He knew I would give up everything for the ones I love to be happy. He knew that I would cease to exist for the lives of all those effected by this war. I swung my bag onto my shoulders and tucked my wand into my jeans.

I can't say I'm ready to go. I don't think anyone could say that. I can say…I hope this works? At least if I do this I will feel like I'm taking a step in the right direction. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for the inevitable. I glanced down at the chain hanging from my neck, the sand was moving so quickly it was smoking. I held the object away from my skin as the sand turned to flames. My heartbeat quickened as the flame extinguished itself and all movement stopped. Silence, before white light erupted all around me, impairing all my senses.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Hogwarts, 1944

My world was spinning. My body was nonexistent. The loud ringing and the lack of vision made me think I was dead. That was until I landed with a sickening crunch on hard ground. I must have been somewhere between hell and the pit of hell. Everything was on fire. A wet, sticky substance covered my face and chest, while my arm wasn't responding to my brains commands. I ran my tongue around on the back of my teeth, feeling them, but only tasting blood. I slowly tried rolling over on my back, my limp arm trailing behind me. A rush of air filled my lungs as I realized I hadn't taken a breath in a long time. Coughing soon followed.

I tried to use my good arm to prop myself up on my elbow, only to be hit with a strong bout of nausea. A low moan escaped my throat as I tried to move my legs. The left complied, when the right did not I shuddered. I was too afraid to even check if it was still there. I blinked hard to try and get my bearings. Outside? Check. Dark? Check. Alone? Undeniably.

I felt around for my bag with my right arm; out of reach. I stuck my hand under my butt to find my wand. Finding it, I cast a silent Lumos. I was on Hogwarts grounds, with the edge of the lake mere feet from me, glistening innocently in the night. I caught the reflection of the lights from the castle in the lake. I tried using my left leg to scoot myself farther up on the bank. A strange noise came out of my mouth followed by a gurgle of blood.

As my panic increased, my spell flickered and went out. I had no clue what to do when my strength faltered. I could fix bones and heal cuts whenever I wanted, but only when I had enough strength. My magic wouldn't comply with my body and energy so drained. I let out a frantic sob as my vision started swimming. Panic began rising from the pit of my stomach up to the center of my chest. The soft crunch of leaves and twigs made me turn my head a little too quickly to the right. A figure was walking toward me behind an intense light emanating from the tip of a wand.

I managed to get out a desperate 'help' before everything around me went black.

TOM'S POV

I watched as the broken girl in front of me tried to keep her spell going. Her helpless sob broke the silence around us. Blood and tears stained her face, while her body fell in an awkward position around her. I took a few tentative steps toward her while casting a Lumos. She jerked her head in my direction, her brown eyes scared and searching, pleading for me to help. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out completely.

I stood above her with my wand raised high to see if I knew who this person was. I did a quick Scourgify across her form to get rid of the blood. Then I slowly knelt down beside her and pushed her hair out of her face with my wand. Unfamiliar face, as well as unfamiliar clothing. I took a step back as I looked from the castle to the girl on the ground. I was at a dilemma. Do I leave her here and let someone else find her? Or do I play the hero and take her up to the castle? Thinking the latter would be more beneficial, I went to place a Locomotor spell on her, only to stop. I realized her broke arm and seemingly broken leg would not benefit from such a spell, since it only gave support in the middle of the back, allowing the limbs to hang free. It would look bad on me if anyone else saw me using that spell. Unkind and rude; and thus I was not to the public eye. What to do.

I gathered her bag and threw it over my shoulder as I bent down to gather the girl in my arms. New streams of blood had begun to leak from the previously cleansed wounds. I placed her broken arm on her stomach and made sure to get a good grip around her legs before lifting. She felt weak and fragile. Easily breakable and small, like most women.

It was late, being the Head Boy and the only student in the castle allowed me to do almost anything I want; like be by the lake at eleven o'clock. I let my thoughts stray as I carried the girl up to the castle. It had been my last summer at the orphanage. I never had to go there again. I was free. Free to start my future. Free to never think of my horrid childhood; free to become the man I am meant to be.

I had easily convinced Professor Slughorn and Headmaster Dippet to let me spend the last two weeks of summer at Hogwarts. I had taken the NEWT Potions class a year early so I could help Slughorn as a teachers assistant with the first and second year potions classes. I was now free during seventh year potions and all I had to do was basically sit in on the underclassmen Potions classes. Plus it got me out of taking another year of Divination. Another perk of being at Hogwarts for the summer was that I could do magic here, although I was already seventeen the Headmaster and the Ministry were adament about me not doing magic at the orphanage.

I looked at the girl as she let out a soft whimper of pain as I adjusted her in my arms. Her head lolled against my chest with each step I took. Her face was swollen and covered with blood again, even though I had just cleaned it off. A line of blood was trailing from her mouth, down her cheek, to the crook of her neck, where it followed a chain that went under her blouse; which was stained red. I rounded the corner to the infirmary, pushing the door open with my back. I called the nurses name and she came bustling out of some curtain behind me.

"I found this girl by the lake, Madam Watkins. She needs medical attention immediately!" I instilled a tone of panic and worry in my voice. For show, of course I could have easily dropped her on the ground at the door and went about my business. But no, keeping up appearances is far more important than having to carry an extra hundred pounds a half mile. The things I do to keep up the perfect Head Boy fa ade.

"Oh my goodness! Here, Tom. Here!" she said while pointing to a bed. I laid the girl down on the bed and noticed a rush of blood come out from under her shirt. The nurse began waving her wand over the girl, mumbling and gasping to herself. Madam Watkins said a spell that made all her broken bones glow. Arm, nose, ribs, and leg; then there was a dimmer glow emanating from her chest. I stood by watching mindlessly, I had almost no interest at all that was until the nurse ripped her shirt open and there was some strange, broken metal object sticking out of her chest. Flesh and muscle were torn apart by the force at which the object had been shoved into her skin "Who is she Tom? What happened? Just just go get Professor Dumbledore; I'll need help healing her."

I turned on my heel and walked to Dumbledore's sleeping quarters. The image of her mangled chest in the forefront of my mind I saw the ripped apart flesh cradle the metal object. Pale, white skin destroyed. Everything about this situation seemed off, all of a sudden. I just happen to find a random person bleeding to death on the ground, whom, I swear, hadn't been there when I walked that path to the lake not even twenty minutes before. I had heard nothing. No struggle, no words, and no lights from spells. Nothing I don't get it. She miraculously appeared out of thin air on the brink of death. She couldn't have apparated there, the wards prevent that. I would have heard or seen someone if they had left her there. Nothing was quite adding up. I knocked on Dumbledore's door, hard.

"Hello Tom. How may I help you this evening?" he asked me, his ever blue eyes twinkling.

"Madam Watkins needs your help. I found a girl by the lake, and she's hurt. She seemed to have appeared out of thin air " I was deliberately vague so he would ask more questions and 'make' me walk with him to the hospital wing. His eyes were out of focus as he looked at a point past my head. "Sir?" I said, unable to mask the impatience or curiosity in my tone.

"Thank you, Tom. You may head back to your room now."

He stepped around me and briskly made his way down the corridor. My eyes narrowed in disdain, that man has never treated me like he does anyone else. Always kept at a distance, never praised for my hard work, and never trusted. I can see it in his eyes, I make him uneasy. My lips curved into a smirk as I turned and made my way to my newly appointed Head Boy quarters.

HERMIONE'S POV

Pain ripped through my body as I felt him adjusting my limbs to lift me. I screamed in my mind, not able to make my mouth work. I was certain death was soon to follow. Five minutes in this new place, whenever this new place is, and I had already encountered Tom Riddle I think. My mind wasn't totally there, and the memory Harry had shown me of a youthful Voldemort didn't exactly look like the man I saw. I wanted to open my eyes again and look at the person carrying me.

I felt him adjust my weight in his arms. I saw stars in a sea of black as my leg moved in a way it normally doesn't. I was screaming so loud; so loud that it felt like liquid flowing out of my mouth. I heard a deep, panicky voice call out for someone, then an alarmed, soft womanly voice. The man sat me down on a soft surface, but as soon as he moved his arm from under my back something exploded in my chest and I was out.

I woke up to a blinding light coming from all directions. There were several points in my body where I could feel the distant tingling of a potion healing whatever ailment I had there. Slowly, the light started fading and I could make out portions of my surroundings.

"Good morning," a man spoke from my left. I slowly turned my head in the direction of the distantly familiar voice. "Pumpkin juice? I believe Wilma added a dash of Pepper-up Potion for added flavor!" Ah, Dumbledore. I let out a weak smile as he helped me raise my head to take a lengthy gulp of juice. A rejuvenating wave rushed over my body.

"Good morning," I said softly. He cast a spell that resembled Muffiato before he looked expectantly at me. "Uhhm..."

"Ms. Granger, I know who you are, no need to feel 'put on the spot', so to say." Confusion must have shown on my face, because he continued with, "Do you honestly think my future self would have so willingly put one of his prized students in such obvious danger?"

"Sir, I-I don't understand. If you knew I was coming, why would you let me almost ?" I let out a shaky breath, afraid to say the word 'die'.

"Hermione, that is not the case at all. Let me explain, please?" I nodded my head and held my indigent tongue so he could continue. "I would have to say it was about a year and a half ago when something happened to me that had never happened before. I was sitting in my office grading third year Transfiguration essays when suddenly a memory popped into my mind. Someone else's memory kind of. You can understand my confusion at remembering something I had never had the pleasure of remembering in the first place!" A soft chuckle followed the end of his speech.

"What was it, Professor? The memory?" I asked.

"It was a memory of me writing a letter. Would you like to read this letter, Hermione? I copied it word for word from the memory " he procured a letter from the inside of his robes and handed it to me. "Read on, ."

I took the letter from him and immediately noticed the date in the right hand corner, February 2, 1997. A couple of days before my Dumbledore's disappearance, I thought while knitting my brows together.

-Dear Albus, or me, or us!

I'm sure this is surprising having a random memory pop into your mind, but thus life! A student of mine will be arriving to you sometime in the future. And by mine, I mean from the 1990's. I'm not sure when she will get there, for it is up to her to decide. I suppose this is 'time travel' of sorts, I don't quite understand how I've done what I've done it has happened though! She will probably arrive rather unceremoniously. If I had to guess, it will be out of the blue and she will probably be in great pain. If you ever hear of someone appearing out of nowhere and if they're hurt take care and realize it might be the girl I send you.

You are wondering why I would send a mere child back to do something I could easily do myself? She is the chosen one, Albus. Things have gone irreversibly wrong in my time. Do not ask her anything about the future, and ask her to tell you nothing. She alone can figure out what must be done to save future. As we know, she wouldn't be able to come back in time unless time were meant to be different, just as this 'memory' wouldn't have come back unless it was meant to.

The students name is Hermione Granger. I sincerely believe her to be the smartest witch of her age. I have complete faith in here to do what is right. Offer her guidance when needed, but trust her decisions completely. NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE now, I know you must think me an old, inconsiderate fool for ruining a young woman's future in her own time I trust everything will work out how it is supposed to. Enroll her in classes, seventh year should be sufficient. She has quite the thirst for knowledge, so she should do just fine.

I apologize for not being able to offer more information. If I know you, Albus, as I do, you must be overtly curious about the future and time travel. Patience is, as the say, a virtue. Keep an eye on her; she must understand that this is her destiny. Make of it as she will. Also, I should mention, that you're probably going to have a horrible, horrible headache after reading this. I suggest you get to Wilma as soon as you can.

Good luck,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore-

I let the letter fall from my hands. So how do I do what is right if I have no clue what to do in the first place? The chosen one so this was never about Harry? Well, from this point on I guess it was never about Harry. It's me. I have to somehow fix the past. I felt overwhelmed, to the point where my head started to spin.

"Breathe, Hermione." I counted to ten and took a breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. "I have faith in you if my future self had faith in you. I know you can handle this whatever 'this' may be. I may trust people easily, but it is rare for me to instill all my confidence into one person. I believe in destiny, Hermione you should too."

"I don't know what I'm doing " I said breathlessly.

"You will. Rest now, , we'll talk about everything when you're ready." The new Dumbledore reassured as he stood to leave. "Try to live normally here; this is your new life."

"Sir?" I called as a thought hit me. "Where is my time turner? And when am I?" I added as an afterthought.

"It's August 19, 1944. And as for the object that was around your neck when you arrived, it's in pieces in my office. The sands of time entered your blood stream last night, Hermione. Who knows what that can do to a person with a set destiny "

Three days later, I was wearing a knee length, black skirt with a high necked, white blouse sitting in front of Professor Dumbledore in his office. We were having difficulties deciding who I was to be in this new life. Finding a suitable last name has been bothersome. I could of course, keep Granger or I could be somebody else and skip the whole Mudblood thing. Over eight years in the wizarding world of being called a Mudblood unfortunately has negative emotional side effects.

"Don't be ashamed of who you are, Hermione." Dumbledore said while offering me a lemon drop.

"I'm not, sir. I just kind of want a new start. You know? Keeping the surname Granger after everything I've been through hurts. I-I just don't want to be reminded of that every time someone says my name. I want to be normal this time." Ah, emotions. We were trained to control them, and I usually could in 1998. To be honest, I am scared. Petrified. It wasn't hard to come to the conclusion that me being here has something to do with the young Voldemort. I didn't even know where to begin. I couldn't even conjure a coherent thought as to what I am even supposed to do! I Tom Riddle 1944 time? AH!

"Hermione! Being normal is overrated. I trust you to be as unique and overly weird if you must." Dumbledore brought my unfocused eyes back to him with his sweet comment. "How do you feel about America?"

I blinked at him. "It's lovely?"

"Outstanding! Your new last name is Smith, the most generic American last name. You were born in Fulham, but your American father moved you to the United States when you were eleven because you were accepted into the ever prestigious Salem Academy of Witchcraft." My eyebrows rose I wish I could mention that said school closed in the sixties for an illicit dark arts scandal. "You are half blood (I don't care which half), seventeen, top of your class, and the Ambassador to your school."

"Ambassador?" my mind was reeling with the facts of my new life.

"Also known as Head Girl." He said with a smile. "There was an incident, which I'm sure you've heard of, two years ago involving our Head Girl and the Chamber of Secrets "

"Myrtle was Head Girl? Sorry "

"Yes, she was. As you know she was killed, and each time we've asked someone new to be Head Girl, they've declined saying the position is cursed." He finished with a pointed look in my direction.

"Sir, you can't be serious. You want me to be Head Girl? That's too much attention. A transfer student and Head Girl? That's .that is " Exactly what I want, or what close enough to what I wanted in my time. I don't have to be bookworm, Mudblood, know-it-all Hermione Granger here. I can be a confident, unyielding person. I will have to work on the know-it-all thing, but I can try! I took a deep breath and a spasm of pain went through my chest. I rubbed it thoughtlessly as I continued. "I can do it. I'll be Hermione Smith."

"Excellent. I'm going to leave it up to you to come up with a reason for you being here. And an explanation of how you appeared here in the first place. Tom is looking for answers. He is very persistent and will, I'm sure, demand an answer for you soon."

"I think I can handle Tom." I can I can handle Tom.

"Now, I know all of this has seemed rushed, but Armando arrived today. We had to have all the information we could in order for you to be enrolled. Luckily, you're previous school sent your transcripts over this afternoon." My favorite Professor said with a wink as he started rummaging through his papers showing me 'my' perfect OWLs, and several different forms with the S.A.W. emblem on them. "You can go now Hermione, we will meet at the Great Hall before dinner."

Great. Three hours to myself. Three hours to pretend I don't know my way around Hogwarts. I walked back toward the infirmary deep in thought. August 22, 1944; a whole new world. Values and traditions I'm used to haven't even been thought of yet a woman in the forties! Just lovely. I'm almost nineteen, pretending to be seventeen saving the world? I winced as another spasm of pain went through my chest. The star shaped scar in the center of my ribcage was a constant reminder of my new life.

Since my arrival here, I've tried so hard not to think about the people I have left behind. Especially not Harry and Ron. It's impossible not to wonder what time is doing if everything I had is now gone and there is a new Hermione Granger living in my place. Or if everything is exactly the same and the outcome will be as it was. I shut my eyes to erase my best friends' faces from my mind. I couldn't hold on to my memories like I wanted to I couldn't dwell in the er, past? Right? I had to move on and just know that I was doing the right thing right?

My heart raced under my ribs as my breath started coming in quick sharp gasps. Heat rushed from my chest and settled in a ring around my throat. My hand automatically went to rest on my scar. I brought my left hand up to support myself against the wall as my vision swam. I closed my eyes and let my back find safety along the cold stone of the hallway wall. My knees gave and a distressed sob escaped my mouth.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

TOMS POV

It had been three days. Three days and I still didn't have any answers. No one knew anything, not even the extremely nosey Professor Slughorn. Dumbledore had been as evasive as ever, wouldn't even give me her last name, but said she was a transfer student. He told me to ask her myself when she felt better. Of course, information would easily flow out of her. There had to be something about my looks that comforted people and made them want to tell me things, I sighed.

It was warm today. Exceptionally warm for a northern Scotland summer day. I had already shed my outer Oxford shirt and remained in my undershirt; it didn't do anything to stifle the heat though. I rolled over onto my side absentmindedly plucking grass from the earth beneath me. I was never outside this much I was never alone this much. I guess with my new sense of freedom I was willing to try new things. My whole upper body seemed grateful for the change. It had soaked up enough summer sun to make me look almost tan?

I had already created a pile of grass clippings when I realized I was bored. I normally had something to do someone to tell what to do. I had already done all pre-assigned homework, read every book I owned, and at least half the library. 'I could snoop around the room of Requirements; maybe I'll find a something to entertain me in there?' I thought moodily. I pushed myself off the ground in one simple motion. I grabbed my shirt and headed toward one of Hogwarts many side entrances. I saw her as soon as I stepped through the door.

My person of interest was clutching her chest and leaning against the wall. I stood silently in the shadows watching her. A sob wracked her body as she slid to the floor. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to gain control of herself. After a few moments, her breathing slowed and she opened her eyes which looked directly at me. I stepped out of the shadows and took a few steps toward her.

She squinted her eyes suspiciously as she scrutinized my appearance. I'm sure I looked less than my normal pristine self. Tom Riddle never let a hair out of place, nor grass to hang from his shirt let alone his under shirt. I ran my abnormally tanned hand through my hair before I conjured a cup of water and handed it to her.

"Water?" I asked with perfect mock sincerity.

She gazed at me a moment longer before taking the glass from my hand.

"Thank you." She responded meekly. I took in her now calm demeanor; it was like the panic attack had never happened. I watched as she took out her wand and banished her glass. I extended my hand to help her up, but to my annoyance, she ignored it.

"I'm Tom. Tom Riddle. I-I found you by the lake and brought you up here what happened to you?" Her eyes snapped to mine. Her mouth opened and closed, and then she responded.

"Er, yes thank you, T-Tom. I'm Hermione Smith," she let a small smile out, "and what you saw was just a Portkey gone wrong incident."

"You looked pretty beaten up when I found you." Her brow furrowed at my comment.

"Yes, well, it there was something happening and my only way out was to take a Portkey somewhere safe. Hogwarts," she indicated around her, "is the safest place, I guess."

"I see. What was happening?" I asked with the deepest concern and sympathy laced in my voice.

"Uhh " she swallowed hard. "My family had somehow gotten caught in the middle of the Grindlewald uprising and we, well everyone died. I got away. My-my father knew Albus, he arranged for me to come here if something were to happen to him, which it did." Tears brimmed her eyes. Weak, I thought bitterly. Does this make her a Mudblood? Or at best a half-blood?

"I'm sorry that happened. Is your chest okay? I saw that thing on it " I pointed to the spot that she had her hand covering. "What was that object?"

"Y-you saw that? Uh, that was " she looked down and then back up at me, "the Portkey. It exploded, I'm assuming. But, I have to go, I was going to go out to the lake..." she side stepped around me and started walking to the door to go outside.

"Hermione," she paused and slowly turned around to face me, "it was nice to officially meet you." I gave her my most assuring, charming smile. Her expression changed to one of distant curiosity. She nodded before walking away; she didn't even give me a smile. I held my tongue and planned to question her further at another time.

HERMIONE POV

I sat by the lake under a shade tree as I let my thoughts take control. I couldn't help but remember the times Ron, Harry, and I had spent in this exact spot. I could still see them here with me; Ron would have boxes of candy surrounding him while Harry would be half asleep next to him. I shut my eyes and tried to push those memories out of my mind. They don't even know me, I remembered.

I had surprised myself with how easily the lies I told Tom came to me. How easily the tears came to my eyes; how perfectly my mannerisms came together to make me seem weak and fragile. I scolded myself for letting him see me at my worst on the ground having some sort of nervous breakdown. I knew I had to keep my guard up around him. Harry told me of how he had followers at Hogwarts, and how he used them to get what he wants. He told me of how he killed his fathers' family before seventh year. The thought struck me as I realized it would be this year. Tom would go to the Gaunt family home and then to the Riddle Mansion. I hadn't seen the Gaunt family ring sitting on his hand...maybe it hadn't happened yet? Harry said he wore it for years until he turned it into a Horocrux.

What does this mean? Tom only had like a week and half to go to Little Hangleton, then school would start. It would be his first murders. I pictured the man I had just spoken to in the hallway, his soul was still intact. Under his tall frame and slightly bronze skin he was whole and was still 'good', hypothetically speaking. I knew that the Voldemort of this day and age had been attractive; I hadn't realized how true that was until now. The person I had just spoken to was tall and built, and emanated a feeling of confidence and power.

The idea that I was about to go to school and share a dormitory with 'Voldemort in the making' made my stomach do flips. I wasn't afraid, per say, I was nervous. I had an opportunity to stop Riddle from becoming Voldemort, or at least delay his progress. I had no idea what to do though my destiny couldn't be for me to come back in time, kill a presumably innocent student, and then spend the rest of my life in Azkaban, could it?

I had to get close to Tom Riddle. Not close enough to become 'friends', just close enough to keep an eye on him. I had to make sure every mistake he would make he doesn't make. Right, yes, I had to save the world, right.

I wiped my brow, these thoughts and the summer sun had made me quite warm. Sweat had started to gather at my neck line. I unbuttoned the top buttons of my shirt to let the fresh air sweep around my neck. I reclined in the grass as I made the decision that today was the first day of the rest of my life. I stood up abruptly and kicked off my shoes and socks. I took off my top in a hurry leaving me in a white camisole. I pulled out my wand and transfigured my skirt into a pair of tight swim shorts. I let out a deep breath as I ran toward the lake. My splash was small, but the refreshing, cleansing feeling I got when I emerged meant so much more than meets the eye.

The sun fell in soft comforting rays around me. I floated on my back letting the soft ripple of the water take me where it pleased. I watched the clouds drift overhead with a completely blank mind. I was going to be okay with whatever this new life threw at me. Even if that meant 'Operation Voldemort Prevention' was in effect. I closed my eyes again and begged the sun to soak into my overly pale skin. I thought I heard my name being called from a distance, annoyance rang through my body at my pleasant alone time getting ruined. I chose to ignore whoever it was, although I had a feeling I knew who it was.

"Hermione!"

SPLASH! A large stone had landed a foot away from my face. I wiped the water away from my eyes as I looked at my intruder. Tom Riddle stood on the bank in his white t-shirt with a handful of stones. He waved me over. I got close enough to him so we didn't have to yell to hear each other.

"Yes?" I responded a bit tartly.

"Dumbledore asked me to deliver this note to you." He waved a piece of parchment in the air. "I could read it to you, if you'd like?" he started to open it.

"No! That's fine, Tom. You can just leave it with my things, I'll read it later." For some reason, I didn't feel comfortable getting out of the water with him standing there.

"Are you sure? He seemed to be in a hurry while we spoke, seemed like urgent business. He let slip that you're to be the Head Girl, congratulations by the way! Taking a cursed position is awfully brave," he teased, "maybe you'll be in Gryffindor?"

"Fine," I said ignoring his comment as I started toward the shore. I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked closer to him. The white tank top hid nothing. "Give it to me." I took the letter from him and turned around to read it. 'This wasn't urgent?' I thought. 'It just said we would meet after dinner?'

"Tom, what " I turned around to ask him why this was urgent only to find him sans shirt in his swimming shorts. I couldn't take my eyes from his sun kissed bare chest. "What are you doing, Tom?"

"Swimming, of course Hermione." He smiled at my embarrassment at seeing him shirtless. He waded in a few feet, and dove in at waist deep water.

TOM'S POV

She was lying. The moment she opened her mouth, I knew. I didn't even need to use Occulmency. It was obvious in her eyes. I watched the lies form in her eyes, travel to her brain, and then come out of her mouth. I had to refrain from using my wand to make her tell the truth. I wanted to though; it would have been so much easier to silence her, read her mind, then obliviate. I guessed I was so bored that I see her as a puzzle, of sorts. An easy puzzle to be completed in two or three days.

I inwardly scowled as I ran into Dumbledore on the grand staircase. We nodded in passing. I heard him pause behind me, so I followed suit.

"Tom," he began, "have you seen Hermione?"

I stared at him for a moment. "She went out by the lake."

He seemed to have a silent battle with himself. "Will you kindly deliver this note to her, please? Nothing urgent, I just have business to attend to " he trailed off. "Oh, Tom! If you wouldn't mind, take her to the Head Girl quarters? I daresay she will want to know where her room is."

I looked after him with my eyebrows raised. He always has liked rubbing the things he knew and I didn't in my face. Head Girl, now why would a transfer student be appointed the position of Head Girl? Surely, at least one qualified seventh year girl at this school would accept the position. I opened the note in my hand. 'Meeting moved to after dinner.' I turned on my heel to head back to the lake. I stopped midway there as I saw the new girl jump up and begin taking off her clothes. I let my eyes widen in shock. The shorts she had transfigured were tighter and shorter than what I had seen any other woman wear. My teenage hormones betrayed my usual nonchalant fa ade when I realized my eyes didn't leave her figure when I wanted them to.

I watched as she jumped in; resurfacing moments later. She looked calm and tranquil; I watched her float a little longer before calling her name. She was ignoring me, people don't ignore me. I picked up a few stones and chucked one at her. It missed, but it brought her attention to me. I decided to play somewhat nice and coax her out of the water by teasing. No insults.

Her star shaped scar looked at me as she took the note from my hand. Hermione turned around, so I took the chance to take off my shirt and shoes while transfiguring my pants into swim shorts. I stood there over looking the lake, ignoring her when she said my name and looked at her when she asked me what I was doing. Her cheeks were red and she was trying to divert her eyes from my chest.

I left it up to her to see if she would join me. She did; we swam at a distance from each other. I wasn't sure how to go about my questioning. Too persistent sounds demanding. I couldn't force things from her just yet. 'Maybe when the rest of the students arrive, I'll show her how things work,' I decided.

"Tom, what house are you in?" she broke the silence first.

"Slytherin."

"Have you always wanted to be Head Boy?"

"Yes"

"Do you play Quidditch?"

"No," I responded after a pause. I hate when people question me.

"Are you "

"No, , the answers to all of your questions are either 'yes' or 'no' and none of them matter." The tone of finality heavy in my voice; she looked taken aback. Good. "Where are you from?"

"America." She said softly.

"Your accent?"

"I lived in Fulham until I was eleven." Hm.

"What did you do in America?

"I went to the Salem Academy for Witchcraft." She said.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Seventeen."

"How did you become Head Girl?"

"I'm not sure, Dumbledore asked me since I was the 'Head Girl' at my previous school." She elaborated.

"They say the position is cursed " I drawled.

"I doubt that."

I watched her tread in the water that I was standing in, she seemed uncomfortable. I took a slow step toward her, and then another. She moved further away.

"What happened to your family, Hermione?" I carefully asked.

Her eyes narrowed, she ducked under water, and I took a step back only to see her emerge by the shore.

"I have to get ready to meet Dumbledore."

The sun was glistening off the water drops on her skin when she stepped out of the water. She tapped her wand on the top of her head and she was instantly dry, her dark curls hung loosely down her back. She gave another tap and her skirt was back. She grabbed the rest of her belongings and took off at a brisk pace to the castle.

I guess she wouldn't know where her room was until later, then.

HERMIONE'S POV

I couldn't do it. I couldn't pretend to want to get to know the man who has ruined everything in my life. I couldn't look at him without wanting to curse him. I knew I was supposed to think of him as someone different. A kid who hadn't done anything wrong yet, well, too wrong yet but when I looked at him and I saw death and destruction. Somewhere inside the undeniably handsome Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort. 'Plan of action is failing, after two hours of being in effect,' my mind said.

I had subconsciously made my way to the Prefects bathroom, and of course, I wouldn't have the password. The Room of Requirements wasn't too far away, I decided. My new 'plan of action' was to avoid Tom at all cost, even though I was a Gryffindor and I was supposed to be brave. Aside from Head Girl and Boy duties, and sharing a dorm, and probably all the same classes, well aside from all of those inevitable tasks, I would be avoiding him until I cculd figure out what to do.

My bath was calming to my rattled nerves. The Room of Requirements really did get into your head to figure out exactly what you needed. A mixture of lavender and vanilla bath waters in a luxurious, pearly white tub was exactly what I had in mind. I had food summoned to the room, so didn't have to see Tom before I met Professor Dumbledore and my new Headmaster. I had read that Armando Dippet had been one of the worst Headmasters Hogwarts had ever seen. My curiosity was definitely piqued.

Professor Dumbledore had waited for me outside the Great Hall when I arrived for our meeting.

"Hello, Hermione. I trust you had a wonderful afternoon?" he asked as we made our way down the hall.

"Mm, yes Professor, it was a beautiful day." We continued in silence until he led me up into his future office, I suddenly found myself nervous.

'I am Hermione Jane Granger! Or, I was! But I am never nervous when it comes to academia!' my confident self reminded me. 'Just breathe, this comes naturally!'

"Headmaster, this is the transfer student I wrote to you about a couple of days ago." Professor Dumbledore said while indicating to me on his right.

"Ah, right. The American witch transferring from Salem Academy for Witchcraft; the one Tom saved." His black eyes landed on me. "Well, tell me who you are "

"Hello, sir. My name is Hermione Smith, and I'm actually quite British." I smiled sweetly. "I uh, have decided to transfer here after the death of my parents by Grindelwald's hands. I have a near perfect transcript and I received almost all of my OWLs; eleven out of twelve. I am already seventeen, but I would like to continue my education for one more year. That's all I had left at Salem." My smile faded from sweet to sad.

"I have all of her paperwork here, Armando." Dumbledore handed him the papers. The Headmaster let out a 'hmph' when he read the paper stating I was Ambassador at my old school. "I suppose Albus has already offered you the position of Head Girl then? If you've accepted, you should know that it is not a position to be taken lightly; I expect great things out of my Head students! These past two years have been run just fine by the Head Boy, if I do say so myself!" He paused and gave me a pointed look. "All right then, let's do the practical seventh year admissions exam."

"Admissions exam? I-I wasn't there was no mention of an exam. I haven't read any of the seventh year curriculums!" I hated how indignant and whiney my voice sounded, but I had never been unprepared for a test in my life this wasn't fair!

"Hermione, it's just a common knowledge test. Normal things that any seventeen year old witch or wizard should know; It's quite easy for a capable witch such as yourself." Professor Dumbledore reassured. "It's a combination of Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, and Ancient Runes for the practical part. Then, verbal essay questions on Muggle Studies, Arithmacy, Herbology, Potions, and History of Magic."

That didn't settle my nerves any.

"Grading is based on a scale of 1-10 per exam, ninety being the highest overall score, sixty being the lowest allowable for admission." Dumbledore finished.

"Shall we begin then?" Dippet smirked; he grabbed a book from his desk and began reading. "The student must first be able to cast a Glamour Charm on the test subject; failure to complete the charm will take the score from ten down to seven. The student will have one more chance to complete the charm, if the student fails to accurately produce the charm the second time, they will fail the Charms portion of the exam receiving a zero. You may continue, ."

A small feeling of relief went through my body. Glamour Charms were easy; I taught myself them in third year. I smiled at Dumbledore as he volunteered to be my test subject. I closed my eyes to picture how I wanted him to look. I said the incantation in my head as I waved my wand in different directions in front of his face. Slowly his features started to shimmer and change. His beard disappeared and a youthful face with no wrinkles soon replaced his. Eyes, a vivid green were looking back at me, while shaggy brown hair lay atop his head. My heart filled with love as I looked in to the smiling face of Harry Potter.

"Good. Non-verbal as well, luckily you did that, or else it would have been a half point deduction. At least eighty-five percent of seventh year spell work should be non-verbal." I shook my head slightly in annoyance, so glad he told me beforehand. "Now, human Transfiguration. Same rules apply, proceed."

I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. With a flick of my wand, Dumbledore was a lamp. I made the bulb go on and of, then turned him back.

"I must say, I have never been a lamp before, weird sensation having my light bulb turned on." I gave him an awkward smile. He was brilliant, but said the strangest things. Next I had to provide a counter curse to the Stupefy that was sent at me without using a shield charm. For the Runes practical, I had to correctly draw six of the first twenty-four original runes. The questions were all fairly easy. Herbology threw me off, until I remembered what Neville told me about the uses of Mimbulous Mimbletona.

"Excellent job, Hermione!" my new Transfiguration professor proclaimed as he put a fatherly hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, quite the impressive performance, . 90/90, NEWT qualification, if that's what you'd prefer?" I nodded eagerly. Dippet made some notes on some parchment. "Your schedule will come out on the first day of classes like everyone else. Would you like to be sorted with the first years or in private?"

"I'd rather not do it in front of everyone, if that's all right? Is now okay?" my eyebrows rose at the inquiry. He nodded and grabbed the still worn down hat from the shelf. I sat in front of his desk, wiggling in anticipation. As soon as the hat was on my head, we began our internal dialogue.

"Hermione, I was wondering when we'd meet again. There are bits and pieces of our past that we'd all like to ignore and pretend did not happen. That is our choice. The beauty of it is the knowledge we can gain by accepting we are who we are. We can learn and grow from the mistakes we've made, and those around us can learn from our mistakes, if we let them.

It is rare to find someone with such a strong destiny as yours; with such a meaningful, challenging destiny. You must believe in yourself, Hermione and others will eventually realize you know what you are doing and they will believe in you too. You are a different person from the first time we met, yes, I see it here. You still possess all the qualities of a brave Gryffindor. You have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff and the wits of a Ravenclaw. But, I sense something darker; I sense a desire, a thirst for the unknown. You possess the power of deception; a cunningness that few can match.

You can't be the same person you were and expect anything to change. I know which house you want me to put you in, I see it clearly. The memories you have of Gryffindor house don't exist here. It will not be the same. I think you know where you need to be placed. You may have had help getting here, but the rest is in your hands.

Good luck, Hermione."

When the hat said 'Slytherin' out loud, I found it hard to snap out of my reverie. The two men standing in front of me seemed to be waiting for an elaboration as to why it took five minutes to sort me. I gave a meek smile and shrugged my shoulders, "Slytherin it is! Not exactly what I had in mind "

"Slytherin is a great house Hermione. Some of the best witches and wizards have come from there. You will do just fine." The Dumbledore of this time seemed a lot more reassuring than the Dumbledore I remembered. It wasn't that I was upset with being sorted into Slytherin, I'm sure I will do just fine there. What upset me was the fact that the hat was right; Gryffindor wouldn't be the same as it had been for me in the 1990's. Harry and Ron weren't there this time; I didn't have my best friends to fall back on when I needed them. Everything was completely different.

"Strange thing in my past thirty years of being Headmaster, we have never had the Head Boy and Girl from the same house. I trust you and Tom to be fair to all of the houses, to promote inner house partnership, and to show no favoritism." Dippet said in a stern voice.

"Of course, sir. I'm a big fan of equal rights." I mean, I am Muggleborn and the founder of S.P.E.W. The thought of starting a chapter here briefly flitted across my mind.

All of our heads turned as there was a knock on the door.

"Ah, that must be our Head Boy, he's made impeccable timing, as usual. Have you met Tom, Hermione?" The Headmaster asked as Tom followed him in to the room. "He's the one who saved you the day you arrived."

Yes, yes, I ruddy well knew this. I nodded at Tom, who had changed into an Oxford shirt with a Hogwarts cardigan over it.

"Yes, we had the pleasure of officially meeting this afternoon." I made my face into the perfect mask of polite indifference. His was a mirror image of mine.

"Hello again, and sirs." Tom's silky, deep voice greeted.

"It's good to see you, Tom!" Dippet said while putting an arm around his shoulders. A flash of annoyance rang through Tom's eyes then after a second it was gone. "Are you excited to start your Teaching Assistant's position with Horace?"

"Yes, sir, I can't wait to learn all that I can from him and to help my fellow students when they need something." Tom replied easily.

"Good, good. Now, as you probably know, Hermione is to be our new Head Girl, and she has just been sorted into Slytherin!" Tom slowly shifted his calculating eyes to me. "Would it be too much to ask if you could show her to the Head dormitory? And give her the guide for the Head's duties?"

There was nothing left for me to do, but sign my enrollment forms and leave with Tom. I scooped up my bag and walked to the door, only to be stopped by Dumbledore on my way out.

"Hermione, we will go to Diagon Alley in a few days to get all your supplies for the upcoming school year." He glanced to Tom. "Tom, you are more than welcome to join us."

"I'd like that very much, sir. I'll be needing dress robes for the Yule Ball." He sounded so grateful, it was almost sad. We said our farewells as I followed Tom out into the dimly lit corridor.

'Yes,' I thought, 'today was the first day of the rest of my life." 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer-seriously? As if this would ever, ever, ever be mine.**

**A/N: Hello everybody! Sorry this has taken so long. I just moved into my new place! So I've been pretty busy. Thank you for reviewing! I have all the way up to chapter seven written, it's about 30k words. So keep reading! Please, it makes me feel happily ****L**

Chapter 4

TOM'S POV

We walked to our dormitory in silence with Hermione trailing a few steps behind me. I chose not to say anything yet. She seemed to be in a world of her own, idly turning her wand between her fingers. I stopped in front of the entrance to our dorm, I went ahead and assumed the girl hadn't seen me pause-because she ran into my side; hard. Her forehead hit my shoulder as her arms instinctively reached out to grab me. She missed and cursed as her momentum threw her off balance and she went tumbling backward.

I had a split second to decide what to do. Fall? Not fall? Fall? Not fall. My left arm lazily extended while my fingers wrapped around her upper arm to keep her from being sprawled on the ground. Her small hand used my forearm to steady herself.

"Sorry," she mumbled and took a few steps away from me. Her brown curls fell in front of her face as her cheeks rouged with embarrassment.

"You should always pay attention to your surroundings." I patronized with strong emphasis on 'pay attention'. "This is it." I indicated to the painting in front of us. It had a minimalist feeling to it, but gave off a haunting aura. A woman in a red dress sat far back in the painting; sitting in a high backed chair. She never said anything, just stared straight ahead, only nodding when you said the password.

"Mandrake," I whispered.

She followed me in to our common room. Book cases ran along the walls of the room, their tops reaching the ceiling. There were two bay windows that over looked the lake and an inviting fire sat in the hearth. A large, brown leather couch and two suede chairs surrounded the fire. All the furniture was dark, giving it a neutral feel. Two desks sat in front of either bay window. Hermione let out a breath of 'aw' at the room in front of us. It was quite immaculate, and it carried an alluring beauty to it.

I led her to the far left side of the room to her private room.

"These are your quarters." I said as I pushed open the door and stepped inside. She ran her fingers gently over the golden Head Girl plate fixed on the door. Her room was exactly the same as mine. A large bed in all white sat on the far wall, with stained glass double doors that led out onto a shared balcony. Two large wardrobes sat on either side of another bay window that had a bunch of pillows piled onto a bench underneath it. A large mahogany desk sat next to a door that led to our adjoining bathroom. The green area rug and curtains surrounding the bed were the only indication of her being in Slytherin.

"This is amazing," she whispered.

"What? Didn't have this type of accommodations at Salem?" She gave me a weird look.

"Right. Uh, no. The Ambassador's didn't get private quarters, we had to share the dorms like everyone else. This is perfect!" A broad smile graced her features as she scanned the room one more time. Her eyes didn't hold the same excitement that her voice did. I took a note of that fact and stored it for later.

"Perfect, yes. My room is through this door, which is our bathroom." I opened it and a large vanity met our eyes. A magnificent tub sat in the far corner; a large shower to the right of it. Two doors at the back of the room had 'His' and 'Hers' written on them. "Knock if you for some reason, need me. Do not just walk in." she deftly nodded. I watched as she walked back to her bed and put her bag down. Her eyes glanced around the room before landing back on me.

"Thank you, Tom." Ah, easy dismissal. I blinked and shut the door behind me as I walked to my room. I took off my sweater and Oxford and sent them to the wardrobe with my wand. Socks went to the hamper in the corner as my shoes went to their spot by the door. 'Everything is in perfect order, as always,' I thought, 'nothing out of place.'

I summoned a book from my wardrobe on Wandless Magic to my bed. The one thing I love about magic is that there is always room to grow and expand. Always the option of gaining more power. I could do several simple spells wandlessly. Summoning, banishing, cleaning spells…I wanted to learn the harder ones though. Defensive magic wandlessly, I could feel it. It was there, bubbling under the surface…anxious to escape.

I needed something to show the Knights; they needed something to make them realize that I am the one they should follow. That there is no escape. The Crucio's have them scared, and the Imperio's have them impressed…if I could do those wandlessly there would be no doubt in their minds.

I thought about the visit I had planned for the Gaunts and I thought about what told me about the Gaunt family heirloom. The infamous ring, belonging to none other than Salazar Slytherin himself. I thought about Horocruxes, and how they're made and how if I want to be the most powerful wizard…I must be immortal. I thought about Myrtle, and how her blood was on my hands, whether I wanted it to be or not. I thought about how I was a murderer.

I wondered what the difference was between killing one person was and a hundred people? In the end, you're a killer, and there is no getting around that.

A crash and a scream coming from the direction of the girls room made me look up from the book I wasn't really reading in the first place. I heard another thump as I was walking through the bathroom. I knocked, no answer; so I walked in anyway. Hermione's desk chair was knocked over and she was on the ground next to it.

There was a man standing over her, dead bodies appearing out of nowhere on the floor around her. 'A boggart,' I thought as I kept still and continued watching out of morbid curiosity. The man's all black robe was billowing around him without any wind. He had vivid red eyes and slits for nostrils. His skin was worn thin and clung to his skull like a latex glove. Hermione was looking at a red headed boy in front of her with an expression of pain on her face. She was saying his name, Ron, so softly you could hardly hear her. Blood had begun to poor out of a slit on his throat. A boy with glasses laid next to her, staring with unblinking eyes. A man and woman were to her right, dead, their arms stretched toward Hermione as if pleading for help.

I looked at the only real person in the room, she was holding her chest with both hands and all the blood had drained from her face. I pulled out my wand before the boggart could turn its eyes on me. I said an internal Riddikulous and banished it back into the wardrobe from which it had come.

"Hermione." I said in a sharp voice. "It's just a bloody boggart. Third year stuff, you could have easily saved yourself the pain and humiliation by just banishing it." Her hallow brown eyes stared at me. "It wasn't real." I said in a softer tone as I righted her chair. I grabbed her arm to pull her off the ground. She jumped away from me as soon as she was up, and nearly fell again. Anger and fear shone brightly in her eyes. We locked glares for awhile until the boggart started rattling her wardrobe. She raised her hand and cast a wandless Silencio at the cabinet, the noise ceased. She stared at the place where the dead bodies were, then back at me.

Her eyes were no longer angry, all emotion had dissipated.

"I think I can handle it from here, Tom." she said softly.

I didn't care if she was okay or if she wanted to talk about it, but my curiosity was piqued at why her boggart would be what it was. "Do you want to…talk about it?"

She gave an exasperated laugh, "Not at all."

I nodded and took my leave. I left through the open and door and shut mine a little harder than normal. I cursed myself for how much interaction had gone on between her and I. I figured that putting distance between us would be a good idea, but my overtly curious mind told me I need to learn more about her before I could forget her completely.

Soon she will be just like everyone else. Disposable; unless she has something to offer that could be of potental use at some point in the future. Her simple wandless magic had caught me off guard. I didn't understand how someone who could have control of their magic to the point of using it wandlessly, couldn't handle a boggart. I brushed my teeth and changed for bed, while mulling over Hermione, magic, and the upcoming school year.

HERMIONE'S POV

I wasn't quite sure what had just happened. The boggart Voldemort was here, and then the non-boggart Voldemort was here, and then everyone was dead. I couldn't move, I was helpless and

my chest hadn't hurt that bad since the fall. Ever since our training began two years ago, my boggart has been the same thing. Then someone sees me or finds me has to banish it for me. I berated myself for my inability to act my age and not fret over an illusion. The illusion seemed so real though, half of it is…or was, before I came here.

I emptied the contents of my bag on my bed. The photograph, as well as several shrunken items: books, my bag of clothes, shoes, potions, my journal, more books, quills, and ink. I swept my wand over the items and they were normal size. I sent all the objects to their appropriate place in the room. I made sure the clothes and shoes went to the correct wardrobe though. I tried not to close my eyes…Ron's dead eyes were haunting my mind.

I waited until I heard Tom vacate the bathroom before I went inside. Another bath wouldn't hurt, I decided. I felt refreshed and clean when I crawled into my bed. I summoned a Dreamless Sleep Draught from my desk, hoping I still had some left. I did. I took a large gulp and waited for sleep to take me away. I fell asleep comparing the red eyes of Voldemort to the impossibly blue ones of Tom Riddle.

I woke up to storms the next day. I didn't leave my bed at all. It was peaceful. I never heard one sound from my dorm mate, except for when he took a shower or left the common room. I summoned food from the kitchens and tried to relax. I wasn't really ready to speak with Tom or accept that fact that this is my new life. I needed a few days to just…acknowledge that this was my fate. So I read the Head Girl and Boy guide, which was more like a short story. I had no clue that there were so many different ways of telling students to get to their dorm. It astounded me.

Two days later I still hadn't left my room. I woke up at noon to a beautiful, sunny day. I stretched before getting up to let the end of summer heat rush in to my room through my balcony doors. A warm haze had settled over the grounds. I could barely see the Quidditch pitch in the distance. When I looked toward the lake I saw a figure floating around on some inflatable object.

I turned around and leaned my back up against the railing, the sun warmed my insides, it gave me a sense of contentment.

I took a sharp breath as the Sorting Hats words echoed in my mind, 'power of deception', 'strong destiny', and 'believe in yourself.' I had resolved to do something and I would do it. I had to keep the future from repeating itself.

'Deep breath,' I thought, 'you know you have to do this Hermione. We've already discussed this. You have to keep Voldemort at bay. No matter what. Lie, Hermione, and keep your Occulmency shield up. Lie and deceive as much as you have to…don't think about how it makes you feel. Control your emotions and do this for the ones you left behind.'

"Right." I said as my internal monologue stopped. I pulled on a black camisole and transfigured my pajama shorts into the same ones I had used to swim in the other day. I pulled one of my old summer dresses out of the closet and made it longer. The forties were so conventional.

I went to the kitchens before I went out to the lake. I unfortunately had to ask a House Elf if they would 'please make me a lunch.' Please must have been too much, because I had at least twelve elves saying, 'you are too kind, miss, too kind.' It grossed me out and I couldn't take their pathetic cries of gratitude any longer, so I told them I would wait outside. Five minutes later an elf named Juni brought me a basket with enough food in it to feed the Weasley family. I put a weightless charm on it as I carried it through the castle.

When I got down by the lake I saw Tom sitting on the bank looking at the mountains in the distance, the water droplets shining like diamonds on the skin of his back. Seeing him like this made me think he was just like anyone else. Like he was a normal 'boy' just trying to cherish his last few days of summer vacation before school started. I stopped a few feet before I reached him.

"Hello, Hermione," he said without even turning around. "Take care of that boggart?"

"Not yet. My Silencing Charm has held steady. Uh, I had the House Elves make some lunch. Are you hungry?" he turned to look at me. I watched the muscles in his back move as he stood up. He brought his arms above his head and stretched, then turned to face me fully.

"So you brought me food to…apologize? Or to…what, Hermione?" I felt my cheeks redden at being faced with his bare chest again. I had to advert my eyes when to my extreme embarrassment, I noticed a small trail of hair that went from his belly button down…

"Uh, I'm…sorry? I've had the same boggart for years…an-and it throws me off each time. I brought food because you're the only other student here, and I'm bored…I thought maybe you could tell me about Hogwarts and its' teachers while we share lunch? And swim, maybe?" Power of deception! Power of deception. Power of deception? His eyes narrowed and seemed to have some sort of conversation with himself in his head.

"You want…me…to tell you about Hogwarts as we sit outside and eat lunch like…two best friends?" I feigned a look of hurt, but he just smiled. "Sit down, Hermione. There's no harm in pretending!"

I smiled and handed him the basket. He had almost fallen for that too easily. He was supposed to say more snarky comments, and I was supposed to say something along the lines of, 'please eat with me, Tom, I could really use a friend blah, blah, blah…' but, no. Here we are…eating cold meat sandwiches while Voldemort laid on his back next to me…with his shirt off.

'I just won't look at him, there! POWER OF DECEPTION…it'll be cold soon and I wont have to worry about my lies faltering because of his lack of clothing,' I thought dismally.

I reclined to lay in the grass a couple feet away from him. I closed my eyes and just let the sun soak into my skin. His voice broke the silence a couple minutes later, strange, I had almost forgotten he was next to me.

"So. You want to know more about this school."

"Yes. I've read Hogwarts: A History, but I'd like to know more about the secret passageways and the teachers, and the classes!" It sounded like real excitement was in my voice.

He sat up, so I did the same. It was a mistake, because I now sat Indian style facing him. Tom's blue eyes scanned my face as he asked what classes I was taking.

"All NEWT! Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions…a few more. What about you?" I asked.

"NEWT as well, except I took my Potions NEWT class last year, so this year I'll be a teachers assistant to Professor Slughorn. So during my free class I'll have to be in there with the first years, and I'll get to help out with the seventh year NEWT class as well." His tone was so proud that it took all I had to not roll my eyes. I had never known that Voldemort got to take his Potion NEWT early. Why didn't Dumbledore tell me?

"Interesting. I didn't know you could do that."

"You can't. Slughorn is quite taken with me and spoke to someone he knows on the Wizarding Education Board. I took it at the end of the year last semester, and passed," he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Slughorn is a pushover when it comes to people in higher positions, or fame, or intelligence. He thinks that if he gives you special attention, you owe him a favor…or you're forever indebted to him."

I laughed and Tom's head snapped up.

"Why are you laughing?" his eyes were hard; the lighter blue replaced with almost black.

"You said something funny? Should I not laugh in your presence of something?" My tone was light and playful. He relaxed.

"Just wait until you meet the others. Most of the time, I feel like I could do a better job teaching." I smiled, then laid back down. The sunshine was so comforting. It was always the same…here and in the future. A contented sigh escaped my mouth. I tried to ignore the eyes that I knew were on me. I cracked my right eye open and peeked at him, he had laid back down, but was facing me.

"Yes, Tom?" he was staring at me. He put his head on his hand, the movement causing the muscles in his abdomen and chest to contract under his skin. I looked away.

"What's your middle name, Hermione?" he asked.

"Jane," I answered automatically.

"So, it's Hermione Jane…" I looked at him. His blue eyes were shining with an unknown emotion.

"Smith," I finished for him. 'Deception, Hermione!'

"Right, Jane is a family name, then?"

"Jane is my mother's name." I rolled to face him. His gaze followed my movements.

"And where is your mother now?" My heart sank into my stomach. I hesitated in my answer and that's when I felt the prodding at my Occulmency walls. The soft, subtle caressing against my deepest secrets was so gentle I had hardly noticed it. But, then again, I probably only noticed it because I had Snape as an Occulmency instructor. He liked to 'check-in' while you were studying, just to make sure you were paying attention. I jumped up. I could withstand a lot of 'gentle' searching, I'd rather not risk it with Tom Riddle, though.

"Swim?" I inquired. I reached around to undo the back of my dress, grateful I had my swim gear on underneath. I didn't wait for an answer as I jumped in, nor did I see his smile at my abrupt change of conversation. I could handle talking about my parents death, I just didn't know if I could talk about it with Tom while masking my emotions and keeping up my shield.

I forgot that my wand was in the belt of my shorts, so I went to place it back on the bank only to be stopped by Tom. 'Why is he always right behind me?'

"How about a game?" I must have looked nervous. "Any easy game, the first one to find this rock," he pulled a stone off the bank and charmed it to glow, "at the bottom of the lake wins."

"What's the catch? There has to be something? Another round of questioning? Me to face the boggart again? Borrow my Defensive Charms book? What?" I stood with my arms crossed in waist deep water waiting for his answer.

He took a step closer, so that I had to look up to look into his eyes. The close proximity threw my previous courage out the window. My eyes were level with his chest and his breath was hot on my forehead. My cheeks were no longer rosy from just the sun. my hand traced my scar, a distant thrumming leaving a pleasant tingle on my skin. I watched him throw the rock into the middle of the lake.

"All you have to do is answer the questions I ask you. Truthfully. Just tell me what happened to make you be sent to Hogwarts." Tom said calmly.

"I did tell you, Tom. We got caught in the middle of the war, and Dad knew Albus…"

"Hermione, if you aren't Muggleborn, then why would your parents be caught up in the war? How did your father know Dumbledore? What happened to your family, then? All you have to do is answer these simple questions and I'll leave you alone about it…just tell me the real truth, Hermione. Grindlewald hasn't even advanced to America. And there has been no news of a wizarding family with the last name of Smith in the Daily Prophet."

My toleration was running out. There was only so much of Tom Riddle's scheming I could put up with…especially when it involved who I really was. He was hitting too close to home.

"And if I win?" Determination set deep within my eyes.

"What would you like?" he said with a sardonic laugh.

"I would like to see what you fear most." his jovial expression disappeared. "Let me see you face the boggart in my room, then I'll let you get rid of it for me."

"You…want to see what I fear most…over anything else you could possibly ask for?" Tom's calculating tone surprised me. I guess we both had something we would like to keep hidden.

"Yes. If over coming your fear is as easy as Riddikulous, then I would like to see you do it. If you'd rather just call a truce, I'll understand." His eyes turned stormy as the sun hid behind a patch of clouds. His tan skin suddenly seemed pale and cold.

"Deal," he whispered.

"What? You're…you're going to consent to this?" I had honestly thought he wouldn't go through with it. He extended his hand.

"There's no going back now." he said as I placed my hand in his. Our gaze locked as we both tried to size each other up. "Rules: no summoning, no harming the other opponent, no cheating, and only a sixty minute timer." he was still holding my hand. I squeezed it as hard as I could before letting go, no yelp of pain followed…only a chuckle and a smirk.

Tom tapped me on the head with his wand and before I knew what was happening, my head was fully encased in a Bubblehead Charm. I heard his voice through the elastic surface of the charm, it sounded like we were already under water.

"I set the charm to run out in an hour. Good luck, Smith." He conjured a holster for his wand on his arm, so I did the same. He held up his hand and with a signal of one, two, three on his fingers, the game began.

TOM'S POV

We dove at the same time, our bodies breaking the water in to waves and bubbles. I veered to the left and she to the right. There was no way I could lose. It wasn't possible. I was stronger, faster, and more powerful than she was. Who was she anyway? I hadn't seen her or heard from her since she showed me out of her room. Then she came out of nowhere, while wearing a dress that hardly covered her chest and offered me food.

I crawled through an archway that led deeper into the lake. I saw flashes of angry, green eyes and the glint of metal. I swam up and over a field of twenty foot seaweed. I didn't bother looking in there, the game would be over before anyone even found the rock in there. I swam closer to the bottom, hoping to catch a glimpse of something glinting in the dark. Nothing.

I let my mind wander back to Hermione for a split second. The image of her unzipping her dress in front of me popped up. I closed my eyes as I recalled the way the sun danced on her bare back, as her hips shimmied to slide her dress down. I had never been alone with a girl as much as I had her. Unless it was for academic pursuits or some other possibly beneficial quality they had that would help me along the way sometime after Hogwarts.

I took another deep dive around a large cave in the water, still no rock. It wasn't possible for me to admit that I found this new girl somewhat attractive, because I didn't. I was just curious. Pure curiosity. Soon, the only talking her and I do will be about the Head duties and maybe homework, if she needed help.

I sighed as I felt the oxygen in the bubble start to get thin. 'I guess she will not answer my questions today,' I thought disappointedly. I watched the sun dance on the surface of the lake as I swam toward it. I was rather upset with myself. I let my thoughts distract me to the point where I hadn't tried as hard as I could to win the game. I was never distracted by women, I have had countless females throw themselves pathetically at my feet for a measly date to Hogsmead. Disgusting.

I broke the surface and ended the charm. I shook my head. 'No more typical teenage male thoughts, Tom. You're smarter than that!'

The girl was nowhere in sight. I tread to the shore, she had to be close. The sixty minutes was about up. After a couple minutes, I started to get a bad feeling. Of course, something would go wrong with a simple game. I cast another charm and dove back into the water.

I thought 'Descendio' when I realized the speed at which I was swimming wasn't fast enough. I made it to the seaweed patch and noticed chunks of seaweed floating upward from a point in the middle of the field. As I got closer I could see six or seven Grindelow hovering around an obviously knocked out Hermione with no charm around her head.

I sent a couple spells and the underwater creatures dissipated. I swam to the new Head Girl, there was no sign of life.

'Damnit.' I grabbed her around her waist and said a quick 'Ascendio'. I broke the surface with Hermione's dead weight on my arm. When I could touch, I swung her legs to my other arm so I could bridal carry her out of the water. I sat her gently down on the ground and knelt next to her. Her lips were almost blue. I checker her pulse, faint but there.

Ennervate didn't work, and neither did the other spells I tried. I let out a loud, frustrated curse word as I had to result to the Muggle way of saving someone's life. My hands came to her chest as I started the count to fifteen. Her skin was pale and it made me look even more tan than what I was. My hands felt large and clumsy as I tried to push the life back into the girl in front of me. I put my ear by her mouth.

'Shit, shit, shit,' I thought frantically.

I placed my hand over her nose as I parted her lips to blow air into her lungs from my mouth. Her soft lips were cold against mine. Two breaths, fifteen chest compressions. Panic began to swell in my chest.

'Fuck, Hermione, wake up!" I parted her lips and sent a rush of air into her lungs. I waited and waited. Relief flooded through me as her eyes cracked open, and coughing followed.

I picked up her upper body and leaned her against my chest so she could cough and breath easier. Her lips were still blue as she looked up at me.

"Did you save my life again, Tom Riddle?" her voice was soft and weak.

"Mm, you should really try to stop dying when I'm around. You're getting quite heavy to carry." My words were in jest, but my tone was serious.

"I'm sorry, I-I couldn't get my wand out of my holster and then the Grindelows…" her cough interrupted her speech. "It won't happen again. Two almost deaths in one week are a bit much."

"I agree," Our intimate position of her small body pushed up against my chest had begun to put my nerves on edge. I transfigured my shirt into a pillow and set her down. "I guess neither of us won the game, then." I tried to ignore the fact that I might have a life saving complex now, if the word ever spread of the accuracy of that statement…

Hermione gave me a sheepish look, "I might have found the…uh, rock before I started to drown." she weakly reached into her shorts pocket to pull out the illuminated rock. The weight of it was making her hand shake, so I took it away from her to inspect it. "Do you think we could fulfill the terms of the deal later?" she tried to sit up, so I helped her. "I kind of feel like taking a nap now."

She extended her arm toward me, "Would you?" she asked. I looked at the holster on her arm, the clamp was broken. I held her arm close to me as I pinched either side of the clamp until I broke completely off.

I helped her stand up and she pulled her dress on in one fluid motion. She wobbled so I steadied her.

"Thank you, Tom…for saving me." she placed her hand on my cheek, then walked away. My jaw fell open as I watched her leave. She had won.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello. Thank you for all the reviews and such! You have no idea what it means to me. Hopefully this chapter keeps up with the trend of being around 5,000 words, haha. I'm not going to update again after this until I finish chapter eight. Which will probably take me around a week or so. **

**Thank you so much for reviewing! Keep it up! Tell me whatchuu thinkkk! **

Chapter 5

HERMIONE'S POV

I stood in front of the mirror in my new luxurious bathroom taking in my appearance. My lips were no longer blue and my skin had a delicate touch of pink to it from the sun. I let my towel drop as I took in my naked body. My hair had grown longer and darker; the locks of hair hung soaking wet on my breasts.

I did a slow circle, all the cuts and bruises from my fall to 'Earth' had gone. There was some slight bruising on my ankle from where the Grindelow had grabbed me, but it would be gone shortly. I put my hands on my flat stomach, months ago you could have seen somewhat defined stomach muscles.

'I really need to start running again,' I thought.

The scar on my chest from the time turner had almost faded to white lines. I traced the diagonal scar that Dolohov gave me from under my right breast to my left hip. I moved my hair from off my chest and noticed a small tan line on my shoulders from the days in the sun. I appraised myself for a moment longer, I looked _too_ womanly to be a seventeen year old Hogwarts student.

My chest had grown over the past two years and my breasts were now round and full, and my hips flared out from my waist which gave me an hour glass shape. I couldn't remember the last time I had a spare moment to take in my appearance. The past two years we had done nothing but run, worry, and fight. I let my eyes trail up my long legs to the light patch of hair between my thighs.

'I guess I'll be a well developed seventeen year old then,' I shrugged.

My thoughts strayed to Tom as I thought about what had just happened. I thought about his physique and how he looked more developed than Ron and Harry had at seventeen. Tom had broad shoulders and a wide masculine chest that made him look like a man rather than a teen. At several different times this afternoon I had caught my eyes as they trailed up his arms, following the veins underneath his skin.

I thought of his voice, how it was deep and perfectly clear; it was sophisticated. I could close my eyes and think of his beauty. He _was _beautiful, unlike any man I had ever seen. His eyes were intelligent and changed from the calmest blue to the blackest black. Tom had a strong jaw, which made his high cheek bones even more prominent. His dark hair fell in perfect waves around his aristocratic face. I recalled his full, pink lips and how I could still feel the trace of them on my own. Soft, and so much warmer than mine.

He saved me again.

Tom actually took the time to look for me, to resuscitate me, and to…cradle me against his…warm chest? My eyes snapped open, I hadn't even realized they were closed. The girl in the mirror looking back at me was reprimanding me for having let my mind give in to the slight attraction I had for Tom…while I was naked.

I shook my head and cast a drying spell on my hair. The longer my hair got, the less frizzy it was. Thankfully. Dark, soft curls soon replaced the sopping wet mass on top of my head. I took one last look at myself as I was putting on my robe. I just had to hide whatever attraction I had for Tom, just by remembering what he becomes in the future.

I padded through my room, pausing to catch the beautiful sunset through my still open balcony doors. A letter sat on my bed, for a moment I had forgotten my last name was Smith.

'Dear Hermione,

The time has come for us to go to Diagon Alley to get your supplies for the upcoming school year. I hadn't thought to ask you before, but what is your financial situation? No worries if you have no funds! I will gladly pay for you as I have offered for as well. You will need books for each respective class (I shall give you the list tomorrow) and for whichever elective you choose; should you choose to give up your free period.

The electives available to you are: Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, or Divinition-none of these are offered at NEWT level, of course.

You will also need the standard schooling supplies: quills, ink, parchment, a cauldron, basic Potions supplies, and dress robes. If you need anything I will be happy to pay for that too. I've sent Tom a letter as well, asking for all of us to meet outside the Great Hall after breakfast tomorrow. I will see you then!

-Albus Dumbledore'

'…Tom and I must be the orphan charity cases…' I thought bitterly.

Right. I had forgotten that school started soon. How could I forget that? I had most of those supplies in my old school trunk. I wandlessly summoned my old beaded bag from my wardrobe to see how much money I had. Which was quite a bit. At least enough for books, supplies, and clothes to fit this era. I figured I would probably have to borrow at least some Galleons for dress robes.

My body was exhausted from the day. The game and Grindelow attack wore me out. Not to mention the near death experience. The sheets were soft and comforting as I tried to relax into them. I couldn't get over the fact that Tom had willingly saved my life. Twice! The idea that I could be putting too much faith into the young Lord Voldemort and his ability to save my life had crossed my mind. Potentially problematic. The next time I should almost die (which, let's face it, will happen) he might not save me or worse, he could be the one to hand me my clock out card.

I shuddered at the thought. I still had the whole school year to get through…to get close to Tom, to keep him from becoming the Dark Lord. Who knew if I could even do that in one year? I couldn't bring myself to get too close to him, could I? A school girl crush on his looks, _only_ his looks, is inconsequential. I could just snap out of this 'funk' and go back to a 'business' like basis, where he will let me in on…whatever ideas are swimming through his head. I couldn't ask for much more than that. A business partnership. No misconstrued, deceitful 'friendship' and no fatal attraction.

I met Professor Dumbledore and Tom the next morning. They were both standing on opposite sides of the door way, one wearing light purple robes and whistling some sort of show tune; the other in cuffed, dark gray slacks and a button down light blue shirt. Both men's arms were crossed in front of their chest and neither of them were looking at each other.

It was relatively comical.

I noted that Tom looked like he could be some Muggle model, working in a factory. His dark hair fell delicately in his face, he took my appearance in with an emotionless mask in place.

"Good morning, ! We just have to make a quick walk down to the local town of Hogsmead to apparate to Diagon Alley." Dumbledore said in greeting. Tom and I followed behind him a couple of paces away. I nudged him in hello, he merely nodded. I stuck my hands into the pocket of my simple white dress. The sleeves were tight and wrapped around the edge of my shoulders, while the waist was sucked in tight and tied behind my back in a bow. I added the pockets to carry my change purse and wand.

Dumbledore side along apparated us to the busiest part of the street. I had to pretend I didn't know where Diagon Alley was, so I couldn't apparate myself and I assumed Dumbledore just thought it was easier to grab onto Tom's arm as well as mine and go all together.

"Can we start at Flourish and Botts, sir?" Tom asked, but it didn't seem like a question, really. Since he went through the door before either of us could respond. Dumbledore just chuckled, with a bemused expression on his face.

I took a deep breath when I entered the store. The fragrant smell of books and paper met me like a rush fresh air. I immediately picked out the books I needed for class and grabbed a few that would prove themselves a good read. Such as, 'Time is of the Essence' and a book called, 'Wizarding World: A Look at Pureblood Family Trees from the 1400's and On.' I met Tom at the front of the store, we both had an arm load of books. He let me check out first.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to thank him again for what had transpired the day before, I thought better of it and decided he probably wouldn't want to hear it.

After shrinking our newly bought items, we went to the Apothecary, then to Scribbulus to get Tom writing supplies, since I already had all I would need for the school year. Next, I went Magical Mengerie to look for a pet, while Tom went to some junk shop next door to spend his own money.

Dumbledore followed me in to the store to help me choose a new familiar. We walked up and down the aisles talking about each animal as we past. Head Boy and Girl have the option of getting something different than the normal toad, cat, rat, or owl. Within reason, that is. I decided I didn't really need a bird, since Hogwarts supplied them. I couldn't even think of getting another cat to replace Crookshanks, who had been missing since my parents death. When I walked past the rabbits, I saw what I wanted. It was looking right at me. As I took a couple steps closer, it started to uncoil itself and rise out of the cage it was placed inside of.

I had never thought of getting a snake before, but something just felt right about this…the name on the outside of the cage said, Annie. I slowly held my hand out to the two foot long Garden Snake. It nudged my hand and put out its forked tongue against my finger tips. Her body began to slither itself up my arm. The feel of its skin against mine was foreign at first. It wound its body around my shoulders; head on one side, tail on the other.

"Hello, Annie," I said. "Is that your name?" I didn't expect an answer, of course but when her face lightly touched mine, I took that as a 'yes'.

"A familiar can say a lot about a person," a voice sounded behind me. I turned to see Dumbledore, who was gently smiling at Annie. "It's said when you dream about snakes, you have a fear or uncertainty in your life. Although, mythologically speaking, they can stand for rebirth and transformation; they can even be a symbol of desire. It's rather fitting giving the position you're in…I think Annie would be perfect for you."

I was silent for a moment as I thought about what he said. I tried to correlate it to my life. Rebirth and transformation, were obvious. Desire, I had yet to figure out. My whole life was uncertain. At the moment I was trying to make some sort of transformation happen…in Tom and the future. I could associate rebirth with myself, personally. Starting all over again in a new place. For now, I could attribute desire to my extreme want for change.

"Thanks, Professor," I said with a smile. "Annie, would you like to come home with me?" she blinked. So I bought her. Tom was waiting outside, once more enjoying the summer sun with his eyes closed and face turned toward the sky.

"Ready to go to Madam Malkins?" I asked.

His eyes focused on me and took in the snake hanging around my neck. "Hermione, I hope you know there is a snake around your neck."

"Yes, Tom. I know, thank you," I rolled my eyes at his deadpan sarcasm. "This is Annie; Annie, Tom." she hissed and Tom smiled and rose his eyebrows.

"Right. Well, she seems to be quite…possessive of you." he held out his hand and Annie stuck out her tongue. She uncoiled herself from my neck to be held in Tom's hands. She looked tiny wrapped in his hands. Tom held her in front of his face, and looked her in the eyes. She licked his nose. If it had been to anyone else, it would have been adorable.

A scream somewhere in the depths of Knockturn Alley made Tom break his eye contact with Annie. Several other screams soon followed. Annie hissed and Tom put her back on my arm, with a concentrated look on his features. Dumbledore came from somewhere behind us, a searching look in his eyes. He pulled his wand, so Tom and I followed his direction.

"Not here, Gellert," he whispered softly to himself.

Gellert? Grindelwald? But, Dumbledore and he don't even confront each other until the Great Battle of 1945, and there was never any attack on Diagon Alley, was there? I scanned through all the history books of this time in my head, no, there was nothing about this in there. Suddenly hundreds of people were running toward us and apparating on the spot, we rushed over to the side of the street to hide behind a display of used robes in front of the junk shop. Flashes of light flew past us from the right. Cloaked figures with the Deathly Hallows symbol were heading our way. They laughed as they cursed those running from them.

I sent a Tripping Jinx a few feet in front of us as I saw a large, cloaked man running to grab a little girl who had gotten separated from her parents. He landed on his face; hard, as the child got away. He looked my way, while reaching for his wand, so I cast a nonverbal-Stupefy in his direction. Annie hissed and Tom stood up to curse someone coming toward us on the opposite side of Dumbledore.

Everything exploded into a rush of panic as the Aurors apparated into the Alley. The Professor stood up and shouted, "Stay here!" at us as he took off at a brisk pace, disarming several cloaked figures as he went. A curse flew above my head, landing loudly on the brick wall behind me. I jumped up and entered in to the fight in front of me, dueling without a second thought.

"Repulso!" I yelled, narrowly missing my target. I heard my name being called as I started walking closer to the person, easily deflecting the curses he was sending with simple flicks of my wrist.

"Levicorpus! Stupefy!" I thought as the jets of light flew out of my wand. The spells struck his weak shield charm, shattering it along the way. A second cloaked figure joined in and soon it was two on one.

My mind was a dictionary of spells, I was scrolling through them as quick as my mind would say them. I dueled the two with ease, dodging and blocking everything they sent my way. Their cries of outrage at a woman fighting back could be heard over the fray. My anger flared, and I ended the duel with a Stupefy Maximus knocking them both out.

I turned to find Tom, he was half a block up the road standing next to a blonde boy, fighting off three of Grindelwald's men. I let out a yelp of pain as a curse sliced threw my abdomen. Annie hissed as I fell to one knee.

I blocked another one of my attackers curses while mumbling 'Taglio Bruciante.' It wasn't the lightest of curses, but it was satisfying when my spell hit its target and hundreds of cuts appeared all over his body. I looked at my stomach, my white dress was stained red. I pointed my wand at myself, knitting my torn skin back together. It would have to do for now.

I stood up as Tom and the other boy reached me. I caught Tom's eye and nodded, assuring him all was fine. The three of us formed a triangle, keeping our backs to each other as a strategy.

"Occulous Preventi!"

"Arestolous!"

"Incarcerous!"

We all shouted, slowly but surely any opponent that came our way we took down. Grindelwald's numbers were diminishing, and soon they had all apparated away. We had a moment to turn and look at each other, before a loud boom and crack sounded in front of us. It looked like a storm was brewing right above the Alley. We took off at a sprint to where the noise had sounded.

We rounded a corner to find a group of people about fifty feet from Dumbledore and Grindelwald in a duel like I had never seen. Dumbledore's auburn hair was blowing around him from the amount of magic in the air. He stood in front of a tall, blonde man, who seemed to be the same age. I had never felt this kind of pull of magic. It was so strong I almost lost my breath. Tom seemed to be experiencing the same thing. His eyes were hard and his mouth was set in a calculating manner as he watched the scene afore us.

Grindelwald struck again, the earth shook as he gathered the electricity from the quickly accumulating, dark clouds from above. All the sky's power seemed to be sucked into his wand. He brought his free hand up as he pushed the power at Dumbledore, we all took a stumbling step backward as he conjured a bowl shaped shield with a mirror on the interior reflecting all the energy sent at it.

A whirlwind of commotion started after that, magic so powerful and fast I could hardly see where it was coming from. The blonde boy, who I am assuming, is a Malfoy, pulled me down as a crackle of magic zoomed by us. A feeling of apprehension came over me as I looked around for the source. A heavy downpour had started from above. A block down the road marched twenty or so cloaked figures, waking their fallen as they walked. There were only around twenty of us left in the Alley.

"Shit," I whispered reverently. I felt Annie slide over to Tom who was crouching next to me looking the opposite direction. He watched my pet slide up his bicep and hide under his shirt.

"Tom," I said in a dead voice. Tom looked at me then followed the direction of my gaze.

"Can you both do a Stupefy Maximus?" they nodded. "On three…two…one!"

Adrenaline rushed through me as we stood up and sent three powerful spells heading their way. It could've taken out ten, but only hit six. We had caught the attention of the crowd next to us, soon there was a full fledged battle raging between us. I didn't even think to question why Tom would be fighting on the light side, but as I stood next to him watching him while simultaneously guarding his back, I was glad he was on our side. He was good, and quick. His mouth never opened, but a constant stream of curses came out of his wand.

My eyesight went black for a moment as a Blinding Curse hit me the same time a Cutting Curse did, before I could do anything Tom had said 'Finite' and my eyesight returned. In the next second a fallen follower of Grindelwald's sent a strange beam of white light at us, hitting Tom square in the back. My eyes widened in shock as his knees started to give out. I caught him in my arms and stumbled under his weight. His eyes faded from black to the blue I was overly used to. He let out a breath and we fell to the ground in a heap. My body broke the fall. I held him close as Annie slithered out of the collar of his shirt to look at me. My mouth was still hanging open from shock.

Tom had turned to help me in battle, and had consequently been hit.

I met his eyes, "I'm sorry." I mouthed, and his eyes closed.

The boy I deemed Malfoy realized we were on the ground. He bent low, his eyes still on the fight around us.

"Get us out of here!" I demanded. He nodded. I picked my head up to look for Dumbledore, he seemed to be pushing Grindelwald back against a wall. The next thing I knew we had landed on the grounds outside of the Hogwarts gates.

I had the wind knocked out of me as Tom's body collided with mine. I felt my new pet slide over me and loop around my neck. The blonde boy stood above me, sporting a deep cut on his cheek. He grabbed Tom under his arms and hoisted him up. He threw Tom's arm around his shoulder as he let out a deep moan of pain.

He extended his free hand to me to help me up, "Who are you?" he asked.

"Who are you?" I countered as I took his hand.

"Abraxis Malfoy."

"Hermione Smith. Let's get him up to the castle to see Madam Watkins." he nodded and we took off toward the castle.

**TOM'S POV**

I hadn't wanted to join the damned fight. Grindlewald was nothing to me, I assumed he would be dead and out of the picture by the time I graduated from Hogwarts. Then hopefully the old fool Dumbledore would follow shortly after. Hermione had surprised me by jumping up and entering a duel with one of the cloaked men. She was quick and efficient. Spells left her wand in rapid fire. I had looked around the battle and noticed Malfoy dueling three of Grindelwalds's men

Abraxis was my number two, I couldn't have him hurt by some idiot men, so in annoyance I had run over to help him. I had to control my urge within to not use dark magic. It was…difficult. Two simple words and I could have ended the mans life in front of me. Abraxis was sticking to the books, so I followed his example. For once. Stupefy. Stupefy. Protego. Levicorpus. Reducto. Boring.

One of the men from our duel had turned and sent a fairly harsh curse at Hermione. It caught her across her abdomen. It was a distraction to watch her fall to her knees. Blood had stained her impeccable white dress. She had barely put a shield in time to block his next curse. She quickly healed herself before throwing a curse at her attacker…a curse I had never thought she would know.

I felt the dark magic crackle in the air as it left her wand. I watched as the man fell; blood poured out of every cut on his body. I grabbed Malfoy and made him follow me over to Hermione. She nodded as if to let me know she was okay. Together we pushed our attackers back, disarming and Stupefying as we went. I normally preferred to work alone,

Everything seemed to have stopped as we watched the battle between Grindelwald and Dumbledore take place. I couldn't help but compare their strategies. Oddly similar, both frequently pulled energy and magic from the elements. Hermione said my name in a voice I had never heard her use before. Then we were dueling, and then a searing pain in my back. All my strength seemed to have left me. Physically, mentally, and magically. I briefly remember falling and having Hermione attempt to catch me. I caught her eye for a moment; then nothing.

I woke up in the hospital wing. It was dark and I could half way make out vials of potions on my night stand.

"Tom," a feminine voice sounded as a flame flew into the lamp above me. "How are you feeling?" her brown eyes were scanning over me as if looking for a wound. Her snake, Annie, was curled around her arm.

"Not as well as I had hoped, what time is it?" my voice rasped out.

"Twelve-thirty. I don't expect you to feel well after the spell that hit you." I gave her a look that screamed 'elaborate'. "Uh, well. I had never heard of the curse and I'm not sure how it works, actually. Apparently, it's kind of like a numbing curse. Except it numbs you in different ways. I eventually ended up reading about it in the library with Abraxis. It's only temporary, so nothing to fret over."

"What kind of different ways does it numb me, Hermione?" my voice gained strength.

"Well…uh, physically; that's why you fell at the battle. And mentally; why you couldn't talk. And ma-magically…"

"What do you mean magically!?" I can understand the whole 'numbing' physically…my body was weak. I felt out of control. Actually, I remember not even having any thoughts, really. I was just…there in my virtually useless body.

"I'm not really sure, Tom, but in the book I found it said several different things, but I have my own theory. It's like the Muggle drug I've read about…takes away all feeling in your body and puts your mind in a sort of haze. I suppose it just made you magic go into a haze as well, and it has sorted hidden the magic from your body. Tell me, do you feel your magic?" she asked curiously.

I closed my eyes and focused on the distant thrumming of magic running through my veins. It was weak though, as if clouded by something.

"It's there, I just can't reach it…" I whispered more to myself than to her. I grabbed my wand to try and cast a spell. My simple Lumos hardly worked. It was so dim. "What does this mean, Hermione? If I can obviously use my body and be able to think, then the spell must be temporary, right? When will my magic come back to me?"

"I-I don't know, Tom. It has to…recharge, in a way. You've been asleep for three days, so…"

"What? Three days? So, what then? The students arrive in two days and I am lying in the hospital wing unable to do any magic?" my bitterness was blatantly obvious in my voice.

"Tom, you just need to rest! Dumbledore and I have complete confidence that you will be just fine by the welcoming feast…"

"Right. You and Dumbledore…whom, I assume defeated Grindelwald?" she nodded. "Of course." I laughed angrily. "I blame you for this, Hermione. If you had just paid attention during the duel, then I wouldn't have lost concentration! How many times do I have to tell you to _pay attention_ to your surroundings?!"

I could no longer hide my anger.

"Me? You blame me? I was one of the ones there to save you!" she proclaimed while standing up.

"Yes! If I had not turned to end that incantation on your eyes, then none of this would have happened! I am no better than a useless muggle right now! Your incompetence has done this." I kept my voice hard and calm. Her mouth was set in a hard line; her cheeks flushed. I watched as she tried to form something to say. Her expressions changed so rapidly, she was easy to read.

Like an open book. Annie was watching the scene with interest, but had yet to say anything.

I kept any expression off my face, setting it in an indifferent mask. I wanted her to leave. I wasn't even a wizard at the moment! I was pathetic! Vulnerable! Weak! Everything I loathe about the human race. I stared into her eyes, I wished I had mastered the skill I had been so dying to learn that would allow me access into her mind. But no, I am disgusting human.

"I'm sorry then, Tom. I'm sorry you saved me both times and I'm sorry you helped me out on the battlefield. Okay? Don't worry, from now on I'll stay out of your way…you should get your magic back sometime tomorrow, so relax." she turned to leave. "Dumbledore finished your shopping list for you by the way. And I got you this," she threw a leather bound book onto my chest titled 'Elemental Magic and It's External Uses'. "Good bye, Tom. See you at the feast."

I watched her go with lidded eyes and contempt in my mind.

'Good riddance,' I thought. 'An unnecessary distraction. I've let my focus go, now I just have to wait a couple days and I can go back to what's right. I can put my want of figuring out Hermione Jane Smith to the back of my mind. For now, I need to figure out a different time and date for the trip I had planned for tomorrow.' I sighed in frustration. It needed to be done tomorrow. I needed that ring! It was mine anyway. A precious family heirloom that was mine!

A cough sounded to my left, I pulled my useless wand on the sudden voice of an intruder.

"Sir?" Ah, the hidden sound of fear in a lesser man's voice.

"Malfoy," he took a few steps forward into the light. "Hermione and I have been waiting for you to wake." he said in his smooth, well bred tone.

"Have you? Well, I kicked the silly, little bint out. Her idiocy put me in this position in the first place."

"Sir, she's been quite worried about you, if I may say. She's been researching anything she could about the curse you've been hit with…"

"I don't care what she's been doing, Abraxis. She doesn't matter." I said with authority in my voice.

"Right. Er, well…now that you're awake I'm going to apparate home and get my things packed for school. The fiasco in Diagon Alley has detained me quite a bit." he started walking to the door. "You know, Tom. I quite liked talking to Hermione and I think any wizard should feel lucky having such a beautiful witch worrying over them," his voice held courage and sincerity now that he was further away from me. He sounded like a self-righteous Gryffindor. "See you in a few days, sir."

I do not like when people use my first name…especially when people in my little group use it. A part of me wished I could raise my wand and curse him. The other part was dwelling on what he said. This wouldn't do. I couldn't have Malfoy talking about the new girl like he knew her more than I did. I couldn't have him getting courage to use my name just from spending a couple days with her. I had to talk to the girl and set the rules for the rest of this year.

I rummaged around on the table for a Sleeping Draught that I knew was there. I drank it and rolled over. I had a lot to think about for the next couple of days.

**A/N: Ughhh, finished. Tell me what you think! Pleasseee?**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello all! Thank you for your continuous dedication to reading and (somewhat) reviewing this story! Haha. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Might have gone on a slight drinking binge. :/ **

**This chapter has one of my favorite scenes in it! I hope you enjoy it as well. **

**Disclaimer: No. Not mine. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Etc. **

Chapter Six

HERMIONE'S POV

I stood next to Tom at the front of the Great Hall, in the teachers entrance where I wrung my hands continuously. Dumbledore was about to introduce us to the school as the new Head Boy and Girl. We hadn't spoken a word to each other for two days now. I wasn't complaining or anything, it was quite okay with me if he wanted to be a git and blame me for getting hit with that curse.

He's perfectly fine now, mind you.

It wasn't like I actually wanted to get close to Tom bloody Riddle. The whole idea was insane if you asked me, but…in the end I felt like it was imperative that I got closer to him. That was why I was here, right? My 'destiny'.

'What an obligation!' I thought disdainfully. 'Maybe he will come around and I won't have to initiate some sort of friendliness between us?' Doubt it.

My mind was somewhere else as Headmaster Dippet gave our introduction. I felt a thousand eyes on me, and I couldn't have kept the blush off my face if I wanted to. We were allowed to take our seats, before they started sorting the plethora of first years in the middle of the Hall. I sat next to the only other person I knew, Abraxis. I gave him a grateful smile as he pushed a pale, skinny boy over so I could sit down.

'Thank you,' I mouthed as one of the teachers I hadn't met yet called out names to be sorted.

Dippet finished the sorting with a speech that no one seemed to understand, but we all politely clapped anyway. I had finally received the chance to meet those sitting around me. Abraxis introduced me to the skinny boy I was sitting next to as Marcus Dolohov. He was polite and shy, like a Slytherin Neville. Next I met Corrine Prince and Romilda Black; two girls with dark hair, but features drastically different. Romilda, or Romi as they called her, had a round face with soft features and hard eyes. Corrine had a pointed nose and a strong jaw. They both gave me small nods in greeting.

Tom took over the introductions, "This is Amycus Carrow and her twin brother Alecto," two black-eyed, heavily built, blondes waved lightly at me. "That's Mona Parkinson, next to her is Donnie Flint, then Tyler Brown, and Fedele Zambini. There are a few others worth introducing; a couple fifth and sixth years. You'll meet them later." The one he introduced as Zambini winked roguishly at me as I met his gaze. I blushed and looked away.

We continued eating with small conversations about our summers going on around us.

"Have you two talked, yet?" Abraxis at me while nodding toward Tom.

"No," I frowned. "I don't know if we will…I mean aside from the Head Boy and Girl stuff, of course. He seems pretty angry. Do his grudges last a long time?" he chuckled softly at my question.

"Tom is the master of grudges, Hermione. If you get an apology out of him, then you must be the most important person in the world."

I rolled my eyes dramatically, "I suppose, but I guess my complete inability to focus on my tasks at hand are too much to forgive!"

Abraxis laughed loudly at my over-dramatics, whilst catching the attention of those around us. Including Tom a couple seats down. He furrowed his brow at me before continuing his talk with Alecto. I giggled at Abraxis' flushed cheeks. I couldn't help but admire his looks. He was shorter than Draco had been, around 5'10, and he had thick, shaggy blonde hair that hung in his eyes. His cool, grey eyes sparkled with mirth as he gazed at me. I smiled jokingly and ruffled his hair.

"At least you're talking to me," I joked. I'm not sure how Abraxis and I started talking. I guess we had just gotten bored with sitting in silence in the library looking for answers to Tom's curse. It was easy to talk to him once we started. We went from all subjects in just a couple of hours, and somehow a friendship blossomed out of those three days.

We walked together out of the Great Hall once Headmaster Dippet had dismissed the students to their dormitories. Something had felt decidedly wrong about leaving the welcoming feast without Harry and Ron at my side. It was completely different…I lived in a different time period where the threat of war wasn't nearly as intense as it was in the future. The castle was at ease and this was just another typical school year for any other student.

Abraxis pulled me into a one armed awkward hug when we came to the point where he had to go to the dungeons and I to my common room on the second floor.

"Good luck," he whispered as he took off with the rest of the Slytherins.

In the back of my mind, I knew his eyes had been on me the whole time I was with Abraxis and the whole time I walked to our rooms. I had deliberately slowed my pace to see if he would catch up to me; he slowed as well. I dawdled outside the portrait hole seemingly having 'forgotten the password' as I waited for him to arrive. If he was going to be positively childish, then so could I.

"What are you doing?" he asked when he walked up.

"Oh! Geez, Tom. I didn't see you there!" I said, pretending to be startled. "I forgot the password…"

"No you didn't," he stated.

"Yes, I did. Don't you think I'd be in my room right now if I knew it? Instead of being out here with someone who hates me for…what was it? My idiocy?" I crossed my arms over my chest. He stared at me with a blank face; eyes the same.

"Right, I-" I watched him as his eyes focused at a point behind my head. He seemed to be having an inner battle with himself. "I don't…hate you. I…was having conflicting emotions with the situation I had found myself in, if you understand. Mandrake." I narrowed my eyes at his back as he walked through the portrait hole first. _What is he playing at?_

"Er, okay. So you aren't upset with me then?"

"I didn't say that, Smith." he said while taking off his cloak and sitting on the couch. "I just do not hate you. Fair enough?"

"I suppose," I sat across from him and watched as he loosened his tie. I felt Annie sliding along the back of the arm chair to curl herself around my neck. I was curious to see some more interaction between her and Tom. "Hello, Annie."

"I think you should know a few things, Smith." _I guess, it's my last name now,_ I thought. I had a feeling I knew what Tom was going to say. "First of all, I demand respect from all those around me, and you will soon realize that everyone does, indeed, respect me. I can help you gain respect from those around you, if you'd like, of course. You will also realize that there are a select few Slytherin's who 'report' to me, you could say. They 'work' for me, in a way. I think it would be highly beneficial if you would consider 'working' for me as well."

I couldn't say anything right away. I was stuck between the urge to curse him for his complete arrogance and the urge to run away. Annie let out a small hiss and Tom quirked his brow at her.

"And if I decide not to work for you, Tom?"

He smiled, "Well. You would find yourself with a severe lack of Slytherin comrades. I noticed you were awfully close with Malfoy. It would be a shame if you had to end that budding friendship. It's fairly simple, working for me, all you have to do is attend a few meetings and do what you're told. No questions asked." his voice was light and cheery. It was disgusting.

"So, you would be like…my boss? The leader of the group, right?" I humored him. I was having a hard time listening to him. Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Order's faces kept popping into my mind. Tom Riddle was sitting in front of me having a casual conversation about joining his Death Eater ranks…whom eventually kill everyone I knew. _Lovely._

"Exactly, but it's a secret group. You cannot tell anyone about it." his false enthusiasm was intriguing to say the least; impressed, I was not. I looked into Tom's eyes, they were as blue as ever as he sat, waiting patiently for my answer. I scrunched my nose in thought as I recalled the Sorting Hat's words. _Destiny. _I slowly focused my eyes on the person in front of me. _Such a deceitful boy, but I am a deceitful girl._

"I can't work for you, Tom," his eyes darkened, "but I can work with you." He appraised me for a moment and stood up. I stood as well, the height difference intimidated me.

"What do you mean, Hermione?" my name rolled lightly off his tongue.

"I-I, well, I mean I can help you reach your goals. All groups have a common goal, correct? If you ask me for help, I will. Only if what you ask is reasonable, that is. I could be a 'secret agent' of sorts. No one will know I am helping you, unless you tell them. And I won't have to attend any meetings. The respect would go both ways." This seemed like the safest answer for me to give. I could get an inside look at his plans, without having to call him 'sir' or 'my lord'. I could add 'not getting tortured for screwing up' on to that list too.

"I have never had someone working on the 'side lines'. I don't know, Smith. I generally do not allow this sort of thing. I am a firm believer in higher authority…having a person that has the option of saying 'no' to a request that I put forth doesn't settle right with me." He was idly twirling his wand around in his fingers.

I took a bold step as I walked toward him and got on my tip-toes as I gripped his tie; securing his face a few inches from mine.

"Think about it then," I let my warm breath trail across his skin and brought my falsely sultry eyes to his. I wasn't surprised to find an emotionless mask of indifference plastered on his face. "Goodnight, Tom."

I grabbed Annie from the couch as I walked calmly back in to my room. I sank to the floor in a puddle next to my door once inside, "Gosh, I hope I know what I'm getting myself in to, Annie."

The next morning I walked out of my bedroom to find Abraxis leaning against the couch with Annie in his hands.

"Good morning, ready for breakfast?" he asked. I nodded. Breakfast went by quickly until Professor Slughorn passed around our schedules. I hadn't even noticed Tom until I heard his soft voice in my ear.

"What's your schedule like, Hermione?" Hogwarts had block scheduling, four to five classes a day.

I gave him a calculating look before answering. "Uh, I have all NEWT's…Ancient Runes, Arithmacy, Double Potions, and Herbology on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And Transfiguration, Charms, and Double Defense on Tuesdays and Thursdays. How about you?" I inquired.

"No electives?" I shook my head. "Same as yours except I am the teachers assistant during your Herbology class for the first years in Potions. Luckily, I'll be in your Potions class to…help along…my fellow, struggling classmates." I looked away from him and curled my lip at his haughty smirk. I stood up and left with shooting Abraxis a smile and Tom a sort of weird grimace.

I walked quickly to Ancient Runes, thoughts flowed through my head at rapid speed. My musings were stopped by a feminine voice calling out behind me.

"Hermione! Hey! Wait up!" I turned to see two people in Ravenclaw attire running toward me. "Hello, I-I'm Alice Sh-Shoemaker." She was out of breath. Her pale skin stood out against her dark, red hair and brown eyes.

"Hello," I said uncertainly, "can I help you two?"

"Oh! No, we," she indicated to the boy next to her, "just wanted to introduce ourselves. I'm Alice, as I've said, and this is Jesse Coroner. We're the seventh year prefects for Ravenclaw." We made light conversation as we continued our slightly slower trek to Runes. Alice was a bright ball of energy, while Jesse was a freckled, baby-faced boy who hardly said a word.

"I'm not quite top of our class, but I am in the top five percent, but…I mean, if I like could be top, well…Tom Riddle would have to stop attending Hogwarts. But! Then! I know that my marks aren't as 'good' as his, but…" Alice's prattling was interrupted by a snarky comment from said top student from behind us.

"That's right, Shoemaker, they aren't." Tom's face showed no humor or jest. I watched as Alice's cheeks colored and she looked at the floor. My eyes followed him as he walked confidently past us.

"Don't worry about him. He's been in a bad mood recently." My comment made Jesse laugh.

"And by recently, you mean the past seven years…well then yeah definitely a bad mood recently," I chuckled lightly at his joke. It brought a small smile out of Alice, too.

When I got to Potions with Abraxis after lunch, Professor Slughorn was having everyone stand at the front of the class to make 'assigning the seats easier'. Abraxis whispered that our Head of House puts all of his Slytherins in the front row with either a lesser or better Potion maker. I caught Tom's eye as he was standing next to Black, Dolohov, and Brown. I watched his mouth form into a genuine smile at something Tyler said. The smooth skin of his cheeks had pushed up, making a dimple appear on his left cheek. I quickly looked away and focused on the overly large Professor in front of me.

"First row!" Slughorn's voice boomed. "Malfoy and Coroner," Abraxis gave me smirk as if to say 'see?' "Black and Weasley." My heart swelled as I watched a tall, red head walk up to his desk. "Dolohov and Belby. Brown and Bell. Carrow and Shoemaker. And ? Could you come here for a moment?"

"Yes, sir?" I questioned.

"Now, , I know you're in NEWT level Potions, but I just want to make sure you're up to par, so I am going to partner you with Tom who is our resident T.A. this year. He will just work with you for a couple weeks until we know you know what you're doing." Tom was already seated at a desk on the far left of the room. He smirked at me as I sat down next to him.

"You did well in Runes and Arithmacy today, Smith." I heard the sarcasm in his voice. He and I had been the only two to raise our hands in both classes. It turned into a competition to see who could answer the most questions. It was a tie, luckily we earned eighty points for Slytherin combined.

"Thank you, you did…okay," before he could respond the Potions Professor began the lesson. Today we would be brewing Pozione Sognando. We had done this in fifth year with Snape.

"Who knows what Pozione Sognando means?" Slughorn asked. I saw Tom's arm jerk to shoot up, but he must have remembered that he's the teachers assistant and that he wasn't supposed to answer questions in class. I rose my hand slowly.

" ?"

"It means 'Dreaming Potion', sir."

"And it's uses?"

"The potion is usually given to someone who is having continuous nightmares. Instead of putting you in a dreamless sleep like the Dreamless Sleep Draught, this one will make you relive your happiest moments over and over until you wake. It only works for so long, then the taker becomes immune to its benefits, even if the after effects remain. Although it does get rid of the nightmares, it is likely to cause Hallucinations at random points in the day if you've taken it for over two weeks. It's considered a highly addictive potion." I finished.

"Fantastic! Ten points to Slytherin! Tom it seems you've been partnered well! You probably won't even have to guide her along!" He said while clapping the Head Boy on his shoulder.

After successfully brewing our potion, I started to pack my bad to leave when I felt someone grab my hand. I looked over to see Tom raise my hand to his lips. He pressed them lightly to my knuckle and winked. He left in a flash. I caught the eyes of several girls in the room giving me a bewildering look. I looked at my hand only to see a piece of parchment balled in my fist.

'Meet me by the lake after your last class, T.R.'

I ran my thumb over the words, _another talk with Tom I guess…_

I impatiently sat through Herbology, I was beyond anxious to go meet Tom. I wasn't sure why, maybe it was apprehension about what he had to say about last night? I couldn't get the feeling of his soft lips off my hand. I had gone to the restroom twice to wash my hands and cast two Tergeo's, but I still could feel the burning trace of his lips on my skin.

TOM'S POV

I believe I had just realized that Hermione was physically attracted to me. I had noticed her staring previously, but that was even before I was trying to get her to stare at me. Her cheeks colored and her hands had become damp instantly when I kissed her hand. I was use to women reacting a certain way to my looks, but Hermione had been…different. She never reacted in a girlish, immature way to anything I had done thus far.

A part of me relished at the thought of having a strong advantage over her. I, fortunately, had the ability to mask any distracting emotions that swam through my head. Attraction being one of them…most of the time.

'_I will be glad when this short phase of life is over,' _I scowled, referring to my hormonal teenage instincts, fueled by lust.

Her knowledge had surprised me, to say the least. I had hardly seen her pick up a book since she had arrived, granted I had only been around her a handful of times. My first class with the younger potions students was soon. I was going to have to leave the area I was pacing, _damn. _I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to say to Hermione when we meet by the lake. I think I was going to say no to her counter offer, until further notice. I would need to observe her for a longer period of time. I needed to think of the right way to make her think she would be my equal, but have her as low as anyone else.

"Er, T-Tom?" I spun around quickly at the nervous voice of Dolohov.

"Yes, Marcus?" I said impatiently.

"I-I'm on my way to Herbology and I was wondering if you wanted me to start, uh…doing what you asked?" he was afraid. I looked around and grabbed his upper arm to pull him into an alcove.

"You will pay for bringing this up in public, Marcus," he flinched. "Do what I asked, use the spell I taught you. Fairly simple. Capture the 'images' of Abraxis and Smith whenever you see them together. Not just during bloody Herbology. I need to see how close they actually are for my plans to progress. Now, leave or we will both be late."

I watched the trembling, skinny boy run off in the other direction. I do not recall how many times I have asked them not to talk to me about private matters in public. As I dismally sat through class, I was excited to use my new found 'advantage' on Hermione to get what I want. She would bend eventually. Just like Romilda did when I needed a peek at her family's library.

It seemed all humans will succumb to flattery. It's like they couldn't help it…give them enough compliments and praise them on their accomplishments and they are yours. It would be so much easier to get what I wanted by using my wand on them, but for the time being my charm and good looks will suffice.

I walked down to the lake slowly, stopping to politely chat with fifth year Slytherin prefects, reminding them of our meeting tonight at nine in the Heads common room. Hermione and I hadn't even discussed that, I recalled as an afterthought.

"Tom!" Marcus called as I turned. He handed me a folder and took off. I opened the folder. Copies of the images Marcus had managed to take were printed onto Muggle paper. Rather impressed with how Marcus had managed to get the memory like images onto the paper in the first place, I began to look through them.

It was apparent that they were, indeed, close. They were touching in each photo. Friendly touches…arm over the shoulder, a nudge, Hermione rubbing dirt on Abraxis' face, he doing the same. The last image produced a strange feeling in my stomach. Abraxis was cradling Hermione's face in his hands, tenderly wiping the dirt from her cheek with an all too knowing expression in his eyes. Abraxis Malfoy was or already had some 'feelings' for the girl…after what, a week?

I banished the pictures and continued on my way. The new information creating an anger that hadn't been there beforehand. I saw her before she saw me. She was lying on her back with her wand hand held lazily above her. She had wandlessly created small origami birds that fluttered peacefully around her. My anger had hardly subsided, but I could still appreciate impressive magic when I saw it.

I took out my wand and hit one of the birds with a nonverbal _Incendio_. Hermione gasped and lost her concentration. The birds fell softly to ground.

"Tom," she said softly, while standing.

"Smith," I said curtly. "I believe I've come to a decision of sorts." I could feel the anger bubbling beneath my skin. I wasn't even sure where it was coming from…I blamed it on Malfoy for not telling me his plans with the girl and I blamed Hermione for…for…acting like a slag in front of everyone!

"And…" she pressed.

"Well, I typically work alone or have people working beneath me. I will have to observe you further to see your…capabilities before I can make a final decision…" I was pacing.

"Okay…"

"Don't interrupt me! I'm not finished." I hissed at her. She took a step back. "So far my observations have yet to indicate you worthy of 'working' with me, let alone worthy of any attention at all! The only thing I've seen is a developed feminine body that you can't seem to keep to yourself."

The slap that followed the end of my sentence seemed to echo for miles. The stinging on my cheek had been like fuel to the fire. Our eyes met, hers were wide with shock at what she had just done. Her hands were covering her mouth as she took a step backward. I stalked forward, her small form matching my pace away from me until her back hit a tree.

I pushed her up against the tree with my body and held her wrists in one hand as she struggled against me.

"Get away from me," her voice trembled.

"Did what I say hurt your feelings, Hermione? Tell me, does it feel good when Abraxis touches you?" I placed my lips at the crook of her neck. "Does it send tingles up your spine?" I bit down softly on a spot slightly above her collar bone.

"Tom, g-get off me. Now!" Hermione's voice was acidic.

"Why? Afraid your boyfriend will see?" I continued biting and licking my way to her earlobe. The resounding shiver from her that accompanied my menstruations made me feel powerful.

"I don't know what's wrong with you!" she hissed, afraid to draw attention to us from the other students who were outside by using a loud voice. "Abraxis is just a friend, not that it matters to you!"

"Of course it matters to me." I smiled while looking into her eyes. Her brown eyes held a burning gaze on my own. "You are my project. Mine. Any friendships, romances, or anything else…matters…to…me." my lips kissed down her neck with my last words. Her body tensed at my words. I rested my forehead against hers. It was so easy to take control of her, she was so small in my arms that all it took was minimum physical restraint to keep her still.

Hermione's eyes and expression had changed. She made full eye contact with me before she pressed her hips closer to mine as her lips ghosted against my jaw, sending a heated shock to the bottom of my stomach. She whispered something, a word, so soft I almost didn't hear it.

"Oppugno Maximus…"

Oppugno? I stepped back as I felt her magic crackle around me. What spell had she just said? I turned to see the small birds she had conjured earlier weren't so small any more. Three larger paper falcons hung in the air above me. Her use of wandless magic this powerful had me still with awe. I looked at the girl in front of me, she had a sardonic smile on her face, with her wand pointed at me. I drew mine. At least she hadn't made them attack me.

"Tom Riddle. We've played 'nice' thus far, haven't we? I think that it is time for a change. I feel as if we should come to a compromise. I am still willing to help you, but you cannot dictate my life. You can send Dolohov to watch me all you want," this meeting had taken a very large change of direction. "but I will still be who I am and do whatever I want."

My mind went into overdrive as I tried to figure out what would be the best move to make in my advantage. I thought of the woman who had her wand directed at me, I thought of her intelligence, and power. Then I thought of my intelligence and power. It all clicked.

The steady thrum of the Falcon's wings were the only sound to be heard. It would take time to break her down, to make her mine to utilize as I please. I wordlessly burst the birds into flames and then put a shield of water over us to block the falling debris that immediately turned to steam when they hit the shield.

We hadn't broke eye contact the whole time.

"Okay, Hermione. Let's compromise."

We walked toward each other until we were a foot away.

"You do not interfere with any of my plans." I stated.

"Yes, unless they directly effect me or my plans," she countered.

"Deal."

"You let me in on your future plans, and I'll help you with whatever I deem necessary," I scowled.

"As long as you take an Oath of Silence." I would not have any plans ruined because of her.

"Deal," she said after a moment of hesitation. "We don't talk of this in public."

"Of course. You talk to no one else that 'works' for me about our plans, unless I give you permission." She nodded. "Shall we shake on it?

I extended my hand. She stared at it for a few seconds before placing her soft, womanly hand in mine. A soft white glow emitted from our joined hands.

I smiled triumphantly. She was mine. I brushed my fingers across her soft, rouged cheek. She slapped my hand away.

"And no touching either!"

"Sorry, Smith, we already shook on it." I said with a sympathetic shrug of my shoulders.

"Ugh, how do you expect to ever come near me again after the words you just said to me?"

I ran my hand through my hair. "Because you're smart enough to know words are just words and you'll forget about them later. It's actions we remember, Hermione." I brought my hand to her cheek again.

"Will you stop?" she pushed me. "You chauvinistic arse!" her eyes were angry. It only caused me to laugh.

"Just wait and see, Hermione. You have so much to learn." I turned to walk back to the castle. "Come. We have to go over the prefects meeting tonight since we weren't on the train yesterday."

She let out a huff, but eventually I could hear her reluctant footsteps trailing behind me. I had a feeling she would always trail behind me.

HERMIONE'S POV

Twenty four students ages fifteen and up sat in front of Tom and I. Spread out on the couches, chairs, tables, and floor surrounding us. I let Tom do most of the talking. He seemed to like the sound of his voice, the prick. My eyes trailed to Annie, who was hanging lovingly around Tom's neck. I rolled my eyes.

I kept repeating, 'I just made a deal with the devil' in my head. And I had.

I should have been prepared for an outburst from Tom. All of our other encounters had been docile and calm, with the exception of the Hospital Wing. Tonight I caught a glimpse of the dark, possessive, vindictive Tom. I couldn't figure out why he was so angry in the first place. I wasn't a slag…and the only reason I had flirted with Abraxis in Herbology was because I knew Dolohov was watching us.

I shivered when I thought of how cold his voice sounded. I felt his anger in every part of my body. I shouldn't have slapped him, just like I shouldn't have hit Draco in third year. Every part of me was screaming at 'defend yourself'! the shock I felt afterward scared me. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I may be on an equal academic level with him, but there is no way I could use a Unforgivable, like I knew he had.

My first instinct had been to back away, but he followed. When he pushed his body against mine I felt something building inside of me that I had never felt before. Fear mixed with power? No matter what Tom had said I still felt like the ball was in my court. I repeated 'power of deception' as I brought my body closer to his. I could feel the firmness of his chest and stomach as I leaned into him. My neck was still thrumming gently from where he had his mouth. I let my lips gently brush against the under side of his jaw, I felt a shock of fire leave my mouth. I could almost see that fire traveling through him.

Oppugno Maximus left my mouth in a soft whisper. My confidence soared the further he got away from me. Words had flown out of my mouth in the form of a compromise. I felt powerful. The compromise benefited us both. My anger was still present, but Tom's had disappeared completely. He seemed joyful and cheery. I loathed him, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was right though. I could forget words, but actions followed me persistently in my mind.

As much as I want to ignore it, I was pulled to Tom. Not just because I had a destiny to fulfill and not because of my desire for Ron and Harry to live normal lives, but because of who he is. Exceedingly bright and powerful, charming and charismatic. I had never met another like him, just as I was his 'project', he was mine.

My mind turned back to the meeting as Tom handed me half of the patrol schedules to hand out.

"You will always be paired with someone from a different House while on patrol. You know, to ensure 'inner House communication'." Several of the prefects laughed. I was pretty sure I saw a couple of girls actually swoon.

"Tom," I scolded playfully for the public eye.

"What?" he asked innocently, his blue eyes alight with jest.

I rolled my eyes, "Your patrols are always to be done in pairs. If you need certain days off, please try to at least give us a weeks notice!"

I took a step back after I had handed out the papers. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Dumbledore about his fight with Grindelwald, but I needed to. The atmosphere at the school was full of elation at not being in a war anymore. I was dead curious, especially since that infamous duel wasn't supposed to happen for another six months. I put that idea to the side of my mind, to be remembered when I see him again.

"Alright," Tom began, "does anyone have any more questions before you leave?"

"Do we have to have an idea for the Halloween thing by next week?" asked a fifth year Gryffindor. "No, Davids, we don't. Hermione already set up the suggestion box outside the dorm. When ever the light bulb in your head goes off and you get an idea, write it down, put it in the box and we'll vote on it at the October seventh meeting, yes?" The small Gryffindor's cheeks colored at Tom's patronizing tone.

"And remember the whole school has to be able to participate, so nothing too mature. We are going to try to keep it outside also, to keep the 'spookiness' of Halloween alive…and to try to scare Tom." a few of the people laughed at my joke. Alice giggled loudly and gave me a thumbs up.

"Like that would ever happen, Smith," his arrogant tone hitting my nerves.

"We'll see," I mumbled so only he could hear. "Okay! That's all then guys, Malfoy and Boot have fun taking the East half of the school tonight. Davids and Allen, have fun with the West!"

Abraxis gave me a scathing look as he stood with the rest of the prefects, he seemed upset to be patrolling with the petite, blonde Aimee Boot. It was Tom's idea, of course. I definitely saw the smirk on Tom's lips after Abraxis turned around.

"Hermione!" Alice squeaked my name.

"Hello again, Alice," I said in a friendly manner. Alice wasn't so bad. She could hold a mildly intelligent conversation, although she instilled a bit too many 'uhs' and 'likes' into her speech.

"The meeting went well, yeah? I can't wait for the Halloween weekend to come around! I have so many ideas! What about you? Do you?" I listened to her rapid voice carry through the common room.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it yet, but maybe a corn maze? Or a Haunted House? 'Enter at your own risk' type of thing?" Alice stared at me.

"Wow, Hermione! I mean…those are like great ideas! Perfect actually!" her enthusiasm was almost overbearing, but she meant well so I kept listening. "Maybe a Haunted House that led to a corn maze? My ideas don't even seem worth it now."

"Oh come on, Alice, I'm sure they're great. Let's hear them…"

"Okay! First I was thinking…" I tuned her out as I watched Tom magically clean up the room behind her. He had his oxford shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing his tanned forearms. I could see the muscles gently flex with his wand movements. His lips were moving as he looked at Annie. I squinted my eyes in wonder. I really didn't like what they could possibly have to say to each other. "…so we could all do that and like just dance in costumes and…Hermione? Hello?" she was waving her hand in front of my face. "Are you even listening?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, yes of course! A dance! Good idea!" Alice turned and looked at Tom, who kept his head down to hide a smirk on his lips.

"Right," she said, "I'll just be going then."

"Alice," she smiled softly at me, "…good night?"

"Night, Hermione," her eyes trailed to Tom with a wistful look. "G-goodnight, Tom."

He waved her off without looking at her. Alice's face fell as she turned to go.

_Huh,_ I thought as I watched her leave. Confusion set deep on my face. When I looked back at Tom he was gazing at me with a intense look in his eyes as he set Annie on the couch.

"Sleep well, Hermione…"

**AN: Welllll? What do you think? I'm sorry it's taken so long. Work has been kicking my butt, and when I get home, I need a beer. It's pretty sad actually. Haha. **

**Review, if you'd like? I know it keeps me going!**

**Thank you!**

**-Bailey!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Guys, I'm so sorry! My internet went out and I have just recently convinced my boss to let me bring my computer to work so I could upload this chapter! **

**I appreciate all the feedback and reviews! A couple of you have brought up grammatical errors in the past chapters! I will try to fix them! I promise! Believe me, I notice them too, but I guess whenever I start writing a chapter I just get so into it and so excited to post it that I do the least precise read through that I can…sadly!**

**So, if you forgive me, here is chapter 7. I halfway combined it with chapter 8, so it should be pretty long!**

**Disclaimer: HP no es mine.**

**CHAPTER 7 **

HERMIONE'S POV

I stared at the boy in front of me with hate in my eyes. He had almost continuously ignored me for the past week each time I said his name.

"Tom," I tried again. Nothing, except for a miniscule twitch of his lips.

I had been trying to make him get the boggart out of my wardrobe for the past two weeks! I don't quite recall when he went from saying 'No, not right now' to not even acknowledging me. I had won the bet fair and square, albeit I did almost die.

"That's it, Tom! You are being a sore loser! We made a deal and now it's time you go through with your part of the bargain!" I sounded like a whiney, little girl.

Tom looked up at me from behind the book I had got him while he was in the hospital wing-

"Hermione," his endlessly blank face gazed at me, "I will come through with my end, although why you want to see what my boggart is, I'll never know. Don't worry about it, keep putting your silencing charms on the cabinet and I'll get rid of it when I'm ready."

"But Tom, it's been almost three weeks!" He gave me a look that said 'enough'. I let out a frustrated sigh as I stood and grabbed my bag.

Annie was patiently waiting for me atop my pillow, she was staring. "What?" I half screeched. "He's annoying me so bad, Annie! It's not my fault!"

Tom had said nothing to me about his 'observations', nor had he said or done anything about Abraxis and I being friends. It felt different between Tom and I now. It was like we were friends…to an extent. We didn't talk about his plans or my future involvement in them. We kept things simple. School, homework, intellectual debates in class. Nothing serious. It made it easier on me. I found I could ignore the attraction I felt for him if we kept it simple….and he kept his shirt on.

Oddly enough, we spent a lot of time together these past two weeks. Especially if Abraxis was around me. He and I never hung out alone. I thought Tom might have spoken with Malfoy about it, because he seemed perfectly okay with having Tom around at all times.

Classes were going great. I had quickly gotten back into the swing of things within the first couple of days. The classes of this time were a bit more trying, but that was to be expected…considering how daft most of my generation was.

I flopped down on my bed as I threw another silencing charm at my closet. I closed my eyes out of annoyance. I just wanted to bloody see what the enigma that is Tom Marvolo Riddle's boggart was! I needed to see it. A part of me was afraid that when he opened the door to the wardrobe that nothing would come out. What if he was too far gone? So much so that he feared nothing?

I couldn't imagine what things would be like if he had killed his family before I got here. Would I have been too late? And nothing would have changed? The idea that my destiny was the reason he hadn't murdered yet was a hard thing to swallow. I caused the final battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald to happen a year early.

"This is too hard, Annie…" I mumbled to my pet as she slithered up my side. "I don't want to be the cause for the future of the wizarding world."

A couple days later I was sitting with Alice in the library as we revised our Defense essays. Professor Berrati had assigned us a three foot long essay on the uses of non-verbal spell casting versus verbal while dueling. I had almost jumped out of my chair in excitement. Both forms of magic have so many benefits! I recall blushing wildly when the Professor had laughed at my antics and sent me a wink. Gilderoy Lockhart couldn't hold a match to the looks of Berrati.

I looked over at Alice as she checked her essay. This was the easiest way for me to be around her. If we hung out and didn't have school work in front of us…I would probably just place a silencing charm on her and lock her in a broom closet.

I excused myself to go look for a book I needed. It wasn't like I didn't appreciate Alice's friendship. Aside from Abraxis, Jesse, and Tom she was one of the only one that spoke to me. I had gotten nothing but glares since my fellow Slytherins saw me talking to a couple of Gryffindors in our Transfiguration class. Corrine Prince and Romi tried to 'nicely' tell me what I was doing was 'wrong'.

-TWO DAYS EARLIER-

"Smith?" I had heard someone calling as I sat in the Great Hall.

"Yes, Romilda?" my voice held nothing but polite indifference as she sat across from me. "Corrine and I just wanted to let you in on the…'House Rules'…" she began, "we noticed your interaction with the Gryffindorks the other day and your disgusting friendship with those Ravenclaw gits…"

"And we thought we would let you know that's unacceptable." Corrine chimed in.

"Yes, and if it doesn't stop soon, you'll be reaping the consequences of your actions." Romi finished with a threat.

My annoyance level had reached a new high.

"Thank you ladies," I said while standing up. I leaned forward on the table with my hands out in front of me. "I appreciate your concern, but seeing as I am not one to follow 'orders'…in any capacity…I should let you know that your threats fall flat."

The sneer on my face and the harsh tone in my voice silenced them. "If you don't need anything else, I'll just be going."

The two dumbfounded Slytherin girls stared after me in anger. "This isn't over, Smith." Romilda yelled after me. I responded with a wandless stinging hex as I rounded the corner. Satisfaction greeted me with her yelp of pain.

-PRESENT-

"Hermione?" Alice's oddly timid voice snapped me out of my memory as I sat back down.

"Oh, yes Alice? Did you finish your revision already?" I asked.

"What? Oh, no…I just wanted to-ask you something." her eyes not meeting mine.

"Okay, go ahead…"

"All right. So this might seem weird, but who do you…umm, like?" At my confused expression she continued with, "I mean as in…going steady with someone?"

'Ugghhh,' my subconscious growled.

"Er, I'm not really one to 'date', Alice."

"Are you sure, Hermione? I mean, you're always with Abraxis who looks at you as if you're some sort of golden dragons egg. And then T-Tom is always hovering around you and you two do share a dorm…"

I scrunched my nose at her words. At times I found it hard to partake in idle chit chat with other females. I think that's why I was such good friends with Harry and Ron, with the exception of Ginny-who hardly acted like a girly girl.

"Look," I started, "Abraxis is just a good friend, my closest friend actually. As for Tom, he and I are just 'friends', if even that. It's more of a intellectual understanding…"

"But he's always staring at you! He's always waiting for you after class!" Alice interrupted.

"So what?" I laughed. "we have almost all the same classes and he's my dorm mate. I don't get this Alice? Where is this coming from?"

"Just forget it, forget I said anything." She said while returning to her essay.

"Do you want to talk about something…?" I asked after a moment. I didn't particularly understand why she asked those things, but I had an idea.

"No!" her eyes looked at me in anger.

"What? Do you like Tom or something?" I inquired incredulously.

"Are you _serious_? I. Do. Not. Like. Tom! How dare you ask that?" she huffed while standing up.

"Uhh…" my words had left me.

"Just because you transferred here and think you're some sort of 'Slytherin-Head-Girl-Goddess'…and-and you have all the boys drooling after you, doesn't mean they actually like you! They just want to sleep with you!" her angry whispers had attracted the glances of students around us. "You like Tom, Hermione…it's obvious! Everyone knows, so maybe you should…just go a-and join his fan club!"

"Alice!" I said with a hurt tone as she walked away.

She didn't respond as she stalked out of the library.

'That was odd…' I thought. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but it annoyed me. I looked up as I felt a pair of eyes on me. Tom Riddle sat two rows away from me with a huge smirk on his face. Color rose to my cheeks as I packed my bag as quickly as I could to leave. I couldn't find my Defense notebook anywhere though. I rummaged through my things and looked under the table. My burning cheeks did nothing to help me look any less flustered as I spun in circles to see where it had gone.

I stopped suddenly as I realized who probably had it, 'Alice! Shit!'

I took off toward the door with quicker steps than usual. I really hoped she wouldn't read what's inside of that notebook. I had a pretty extensive list of spells that weren't too common in this day and age. Let alone a few spells that hadn't even been invented yet. Meaning, I had a few dark curses I had read about and a few Harry told me about during our training.

After a half hour of searching, I gave up. I even had a fourth year check the Ravenclaw tower. Nothing. I could only wait anxiously to see her in the morning.

Alice had thrown my notebook down on my desk the next day in Charms without even looking at me. Tom sat down next to me on my right with a grin on his face.

"What did you do to her, Smith?"

"Ugh, I don't even know!" I exhaled.

I felt a rush of wind as someone sat down on the other side of me. I saw Tom narrow his eyes.

"Zambini," he greeted in a dry tone.

"Riddle," he nodded. "And hello to you, Hermione. I'm Fedele Zambini. I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting officially." I gave him my hand…and he kissed it lightly.

TOM'S POV

As I sat next to Hermione, I watched an overly confident Italian boy be overly friendly as I overtly planned out his death. I just didn't like him. Plain and simple.

"Hermione Smith," she responded shortly. A blush had crept on to her cheeks at his affections. I didn't like that either. "It's nice to meet you…officially."

He chuckled at her not even relatively funny response.

"Most of the kids here call me Andy." he gave her a wiry, well practiced smile. "How do you like it here so far? Being Head Girl must be interesting…"

"Well, Andy, Hogwarts is amazing, everyone's been really nice and the classes aren't bad either." I saw her smile politely out of the corner of my eye. I suppose she felt flattered by the attention of Zambini . A wealthy, pureblood, of course all girls swoon at his antics.

Malfoy sat down next to me and nodded his head toward Hermione in a confused way. I shrugged and turned back to their conversation.

"Salem is an all girls school?" Zambini said with a surprised tone. "I guess that means you weren't around too many mean, huh?"

"Er, well, the Salem Academy for Wizards wasn't too faraway. And my two best friends went there." Hermione elaborated. My ears perked up at this new information I hadn't known. I cursed myself, I had been slipping. I had remained content with just seeing her around Abraxis and listening to their simple chatter. I had completely forgotten that I needed to know more about her.

_What was wrong with me?!_

I was playing the fool, falling into a false sense of…security!

"Ahh, I see. Does that mean you aren't seeing anyone?" his tone disgusted me. I heard Abraxis scoff on my right. Zambini had been a bother since first year. I couldn't even talk to the kid enough to want him to be involved with my Knights. I had made it clear to for my…friends…to steer clear of the bloke. So he was isolated by the male population of Slytherin. Not that he minded, for his focus was purely on the female population.

Hermione bit out an uncommonly girlish giggle, which made both Abraxis and I gape at her.

"No, I'm not seeing anyone," she said as she shyly looked down, a blush staining her neck. Zambini caught our gazes and gave us a smirk. Abraxis, unable to hold his anger, almost drew his wand if it weren't for the hand I had put on his shoulder.

Hermione looked up and squinted her eyes suspiciously at us, before directing her attention to the Professor who had just walked in.

I sat across from Abraxis and Hermione in the Head's common room after dinner that evening. I had spoken to Abraxis about their friendship a couple weeks ago. At first I had decided that it would end, but on further thought I figured it would be quite advantageous if I had my second in command befriend the girl who I wanted as a follower. I made sure to reiterate the fact that it could only be friendship. I couldn't have either of them getting distracted from my plans.

Plus, it has been mildly beneficial to observe her with Abraxis. I now knew the same things he knew. But, I knew that wasn't good enough. I had to be the one to get closest to Hermione. I had to be the one to break her, to make her my own. Which would happen, eventually. I still recalled the strange hold I have over her by her silly attraction, I needed to add that to the growing list of facts I was learning about her.

"Hermione! You can't be serious! You're going on a date with that git?" Abraxis whined.

"You're what?" I asked unbelievingly.

"You two are incorrigible. He asked me out, so what? Riddle, you shouldn't even be saying anything! You've ignored my pleas to rid the boggart and have spoken to me about nothing except for school work!" she ranted. Her eyes were alight with frustration.

"That doesn't matter, Hermione. That guy is still disgusting." I couldn't have kept the revolted look off my face if I wanted to.

"He seems perfectly nice and gentlemanly to me! You guys are just jealous because he's sweet, and-and popular, a-and has a sense of humor!"

"Ugh," Abraxis groaned as he stood up angrily. Annie had slithered up my arm. We made eye contact. She hadn't said anything to me for awhile. I told her that talking in front of anyone else would be a bad idea. She nudged my chin affectionately.

"Hermione, there are things about Andy you don't know. Seriously, you trust me, right?" she nodded at him absentmindedly, her lips in a thin line. "Then listen to me!"

"I'm not just going to cancel the date because he has some unknown fault, Abraxis." her voice was calm and soothing.

"Fine, but don't make me say 'I told you so,'" he said dejectedly.

Hermione sat down next to me on the couch. Annie was looking at her. With a gentle sweep of my fingers I moved Hermione's hair off her neck to allow her pet to lay there. I felt her shudder under my fingers and saw the blush surround her neck.

Her reaction to me created a weird sense of accomplishment deep inside my stomach. I was eager to see how far I could push her; to see how deeply rooted her attraction to me was. I looked forward to the time when she would submit to me fully…when I could tell her what to do, when to do it, and how. The idea of a mutual sexual attraction forming between us hadn't escaped my mind. It was hard for me to admit 'attraction', but I couldn't deny that I found her alluring. Physically and mentally, but I didn't date and all women, no matter the age, have a preconceived notion about 'dating'. Love, being the notion.

I looked up as the woman of my thoughts bid us goodnight. Abraxis followed shortly after, which left me alone with my thoughts. It had been almost a month since I met Hermione, and two weeks since our argument. I had put of a meeting with the Knights until I figured out what to do with the girl. I needed to see her magic. From what I had seen thus far, it wasn't bad. I needed to test her knowledge and abilities in dark magic. And soon.

The next day I was sitting in the common room with Dolohov and Abraxis when we overheard a group of girls laughing in the corner at Hermione's expense. This wasn't really anything new, but when I saw the high fives Romi was receiving I decided I needed to investigate. I locked eyes with Marcus and nodded toward the girls. A silent message for him to go see what was happening.

"…the funniest thing ever!" Corrine Prince was telling Steven Bulstrode, a large sixth year.

"Hey Corrine," I heard Dolohov say in a shy tone. "Whatcha guys talking about?"

"Oh, Marcus you just have to hear what Romi and I did today!" she squealed. "First of all, you know how our new precious Head Girl flaunts around the castle like she's some sort of deity?"

"Er…"

"Exactly! Well, Romi and I decided she needed to be knocked down a couple notches. So, we disarmed her and then cornered her in an empty classroom." My body became taught as I listened to Prince talked. Color had begun to rise on Malfoy's cheeks. "We had already told her once that if she didn't stop hanging around those foul Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that we would come for her. She put up a pretty good fight at first…we didn't know she could do wandless magic, but after a few well placed curses we got her down."

"Really? You guys attacked the Head Girl? That's not very smart…" Dolohov locked eyes with me as my second in command shook soundlessly in anger. "Where is she now?"

"Don't worry! She won't do anything to us!" she said with a sneer. "She knows better now!"

I couldn't hold it in any longer, if Hermione was hurt in anyway it could seriously put a damper on my plans. I jumped over the back of the couch and strode toward the gaggle of girls. They at least had enough sense to back away.

"Tom…I-I…" Romi stuttered.

"Where is she?" I barked at her.

"I don't…" she started, frightened.

I grabbed onto either side of her chair and swung her around, jerking her toward me. My voice a deadly whisper, "Where. Is. She."

"Sh-she's in the third floor corridor, first classroom on the right. She's stunned and disillusioned and…"

"And what?" my face was mere inches from hers, the color had drained from her pale face, making it seem even whiter.

"Silenced and bounded."

I shoved away from her and rushed to the door where Abraxis was waiting for me silently. He took off at a brisk jog as soon as we were out of the dungeons, so I did the same. I shoved the thoughts of what I as going to do to Black and Prince to the back of my mind. I could show them what interfering with Lord Voldemort's plans would do to them later. I glanced at Abraxis as we ran, concern and fear etched on his features. I tried to ignore the anxious feeling in my abdomen when I thought about Hermione being hurt. I blamed it on the fact that I couldn't afford to lose any time in my observations.

The classroom door was locked, I opened it with a silent 'alohamora'. the room was dark and eerily silent. I flicked my wrist and sent flames to all the candles, putting the room into view. The room was a mess, desks and chairs were everywhere, still smoking from where spells had hit them.

"Start pointing your wand in different directions and say 'finite' until we find her." I ordered.

We simultaneously went around the room in opposite directions trying to find her, going as slow as we could. Making sure to check every space.

"Tom," I heard from behind me a couple minutes later. Abraxis was crouched low to the ground next to an unconscious Hermione. "Ennervate," he said as I made it over to him.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open. Surprisingly she didn't look too bad. Her lip had been split and her white uniform shirt had a burn mark across her shoulder. The skin underneath charred and bloody.

"Smith," I said to get her attention. She pushed herself up into a sitting position with a moan. She touched her shoulder and let out a hiss of pain. Her eyes locked with mine.

"How did you find me?" she asked, her gaze still trained on me. Her brown eyes were full of emotion. Something stirred awkwardly in my stomach at the intensity of her stare. The way her eyes flickered from mine to my mouth, then back to my eyes.

"Corrine was bragging about it in the common room," Abraxis answered, when my mouth failed to move.

"I see," came her calm response. "My wand?" He summoned her wand and handed it to her. I was watching her intently. She was beyond calm, but the emotions festering behind her gaze were unnerving. "Tom?" she extended her hand out toward me. I grasped it softly and pulled her up with me. We hadn't broke eye contact, and now that she was flush against me, I couldn't ignore the heat rising up my back.

She licked her lips and smirked as she took a slow step backward.

"Hermione…" the blonde behind me spoke.

"Not now, Abraxis. I am going to fucking kill them." With that she turned on her heel and ran out of the room.

"Did she just say 'fucking'?" he asked in wonder. I smirked, 'yes, she did' and we ran after her.

"Hermione! Stop! Please!" Malfoy yelled after her. She wasn't listening. She was being rash and illogical. If she were smart, she'd sit back, relax, and plan out her next move.

I stopped chasing her and yelled, "Don't over step your Head Girl privileges'!"

That brought her to a halt. She threw her head back in despair as she turned to walk back to us. Defeat written all over her features.

"Mmm, what do I do then?" her hand was cradling her injured arm.

"Don't act like such a Gryffindor, for starters," I spat. "Let me see your shoulder." she hesitated, but unbuttoned her shirt a few buttons anyway. Abraxis shuffled next to me, her bare shoulder had a large burn. Her simple white bra strap had been charred black by the spell. I couldn't help but trail my eyes down top of her breast to where the valley began. I looked in her eyes, they were darker than normal.

I took her arm and waved my wand in a complicated pattern, slowly the burn ebbed away, leaving raw, pink skin in its wake.

"What's that Hermione? That other scar? Just there." Abraxis pointed it out. A star shaped scar laid in the center of her chest. I had failed to notice it, for some reason.

"Well, t-that scar is from…Diagon Alley, I just…it didn't heal properly."

'She is such a bad liar,' I decided.

"Come on," I said while grabbing her upper arm. "Say goodnight to Malfoy."

She turned her eyes toward me, but before she could open her mouth, I pushed her down the hallway.

"Goodnight, Abraxis," she called in a clipped tone over her shoulder.

She stormed through the portrait hole before me, her angry magic pulsing around her. She didn't even look back at me as she walked into her room. I followed her and opened her door with a lazy twist of my wand. She was unbuttoning her shirt the rest of the way.

"Tom! What the hell!" she yelled.

"Tell me what happened." I glanced at her shirt, she only had a couple more to go…

"No. I don't want to talk about it, now leave!" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, how can we properly punish them if I don't know what happened?" I said while intentionally sounding condescending.

"We," she indicated between us, "aren't going to do anything. Ill handle it. Now that I'm not so irate" I stared at her with unblinking eyes.

"Corrine mentioned your wandless magic…I take it you can do more than just silencing charms?" a crease formed between her brow.

"My parents thought it would be beneficial to learn wandless magic."

"What can you do?" I asked as I sat on her bed.

"Everyone has secrets, Tom." a pulse of some unknown feeling shot through me. "Maybe if you were nice and had gotten rid of my boggart, then I would tell you. And why don't you leave Black and Prince to me."

"You'll show me your wandless magic and I'll get rid of your boggart right now," I said as I walked over to her. She had her jaw set with her finger to her mouth in thought. She looked up at me with a blank expression.

"Boggart first."

I let no thought make an impression on my face. I hadn't even thought about what my boggart would be. In third year I had said 'Riddikulous' before the class could even see the imposing figure of . I couldn't think of what my fear was now. I had long since pushed that muggle from my life. Dumbledore popped in my mind as a possible 'fear', but I wasn't afraid of him per say…I was more wary that his suspicions would become vocalized.

"Well?" the small girl next to me asked rather snappishly.

I looked from her to her wardrobe. Shouldn't I know my fear? I pushed up the sleeves of my cardigan and drew my wand. With a sweep of it toward her closet, the door opened.

Hermione had taken a few steps back. We both stared in wonder at the whisps and whirls of smoke moving elegantly in front of me. I had never seen this happen, almost immediately when coming in contact with a boggart it should take its form. Hermione let out a gasp as black shoes began to take shape within the smoke, followed closely by black slacks. The smoke slowly rose to the ceiling to reveal more of my supposed fear.

A black sweater was soon visible and a pale hand holding an all too familiar yew wand. I couldn't stop the look of confusion that spread over my face. There, standing five feet in front of me, was an exact copy of myself. We stared at each other for quite some time. Each appraising the other in our own way. I couldn't believe this was the form my boggart took. It felt almost like a joke.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," my look alike sneered in a cold, emotionless voice that I knew all too well. "The filthy half-blood. A disgrace, an abomination to the Slytherin house!"

I felt my wand arm lower as I listened to my 'greatest fear' talk to me. He raised his wand at me and although no spell left his wand, I ended up on my knees in front of him.

"No wonder nobody wants you! No wonder your father left you. Your mother wanted to die during birth, Tom. She wanted to. Who would ever love you?" my doppelgangers sickeningly sweet voice asked.

'No one,' I answered internally.

"You will never be anything, no one will remember your name. You will die in shame, not infamy!"

A noise tore me out of focus. Hermione was kneeling a few feet away staring at me with wide eyes. I brought my wand around in a large circle as the boggart in front of me erupted into a sea of gold sparks. I stared at the place 'I' had just occupied for some time. While I tried to figure out why I had appeared as my own fear.

"Tom," a gentle, sympathy filled voice sounded to my right.

I snapped my eyes to her. She gasped and abruptly stood up. Anger and humiliation flew through my body at a rapid speed. Before I knew what I was doing I had grabbed the girl and pushed her against the bathroom door. She winced as her head collided painfully against the frame. The fact that some one had witnessed me at my lowest pushed me over the edge. How dare she?

"You," I hiss dangerously. "If you ever, ever speak of this to anyone I will make sure its that last thing you say."

The grimace of pain on her face increased as I squeezed her arms harder. "Why would I tell anyone, Tom?"

"Because you know!" I all but yelled. "You know something about me that _no one_ else does." I pressed my whole body against hers, she weakly put her hands on my chest as if to push me away. I hovered my cheek next to her ear. "You could use this against me." I whispered.

Her answering shiver did something to my rage. It turned it into something I hadn't felt before…a rush of heat stretching from my neck, to my stomach, to my groin.

"I-I wouldn't do that to you, Tom." she said into my neck, unaware that my anger had been pushed aside by a much deeper emotion.

I loosened my grip and trailed my hands down her arms until I found her wrists. I put both of her hands in one of mine as I ran the other down her cheek. I pulled away to rest my forehead against hers. The front of her shirt was still unbuttoned and I could see the flawless skin of her abdomen.

"And why not?" my voice came out lower than I had expected. I put my finger under her chin to make her look me in the eyes. I felt an immense satisfaction as her gaze slowly traveled to my lips.

"It…I don't think-I have no reason to tell." Her dark, emotion filled eyes hadn't looked away from my mouth. I let my free hand snake languidly down her back and around her waist..

Her breath hitched, "What are you doing?" she stuttered. Her anxiety made me feel all the more powerful.

"What do you want me to do, Hermione?" She pulled away slightly to look me in the eyes, her confused ones focused on mine.

I pressed her even closer to me. "Tom, this isn't…"

I silenced her with my lips. She let out a soft moan, from protest or pleasure, I wasn't sure. Her soft lips moved against mine in a way I couldn't describe. It was like she was testing the waters, but pulling away at the same time. I ran my tongue across her bottom lip to deepen the kiss. She let me in. I traced the soft plains of her mouth as I ran my hand up the inside of her shirt to feel her skin. Blood was rushing from my brain, all logical thought would soon be gone.

It felt like I was swimming. Like at any point I wouldn't be able to control what was happening around me. When her arms circled my neck to pull me closer, my heart beat sped. Her hips pressed closer to mine and a moan escaped my lips. I was losing control of all conscious thought. My anxiety got the best of me and the feeling of vulnerability increased and I had to pull away.

She was breathing just as hard as I was. Our foreheads resting on each others. I couldn't do it. It was too much. How could I let myself fall out of control? That wasn't me. That could not happen again. Vulnerability meant less power, less power meant more human, more human meant death. And I was above that.

A deep blush had settled on Hermione's face. "What, uh, was that, Tom?" she asked. I gazed at her. Her eyes were glinting with an unknown emotion. I smirked at her.

"We can wait for another time for you to show me your wandless magic, shall we?" Fear of being weak had replaced the lust in my body. I put even more distance between us. "Remember. Tell no one what you saw."

Our gazes locked for another moment. Intense. Unyielding. Confused. I turned and left the room the way I came in…

HERMIONE'S POV

I woke up the next day still flustered from the night before. The third person to ever kiss me just to be Lord-Dominate-the-World. Of all the people in this era, it had to be Tom? A blush crept onto my face as I recalled his soft, demanding lips running over mine. I repressed a shiver. In any other circumstance, if a man as attractive and intelligent as Tom had kissed me, I would have never let him go.

He was evil, right? And this was wrong. So wrong. What would Harry and Ron say?

'You kissed the man you killed my parents?!'

'Are you daft, Hermione? He could kill you!'

I needed to do some research. I couldn't stay here, in this time. There was no way. I knew I was messing up the future big time. I pressed my fingers to my lips as I jumped out of bed and paced my bedroom. Was this part of my destiny? This attraction? That kiss?! It couldn't be! No. No way. I didn't kiss Tom Riddle and I didn't enjoy how it made me feel!

I caught Annie's gaze from my bed. She was staring at me intently.

"What, Annie?" she kept staring. "What do you want me to do? I can't bloody well start 'dating' the bloke, now can I?" more staring. "Seriously? You expect me to just fall for the guy after everything I've told you about him?…well, its not happening!"

Avoidance was a hard task, especially when you're around that person all the time. And that person was doing everything they could to make you even more flustered than you already were. Although, I enjoyed the challenges in Charms and Transfiguration with our near constant debates on whose answer was the most relevant, he didn't have to sit right next to me! He even let me answer a question for Dumbledore without saying anything back at all! Except, 'I agree, Hermione, dearest.'

Who even says 'dearest'?

Professor Berrait's soft, Italian voice brought me back to the present. This Professor was my favorite. Aside from Dumbledore. I enjoyed his class for completely different reasons than other girls did. He was hands on and full of energy. He kept the whole class laughing and interested.

"Now, that we've finished chapters one through three, I was thinking that we'd like a little break?" Cheers and whoops erupted throughout the class. Tom even let out a small smirk. "I'll take that as a 'yes'!"

A voice that I now associated with anger and annoyance spoke out. "What are we going to do, sir?" I scowled at Romilda's back in front of me. It took all I had to not curse all the girls hair off.

"That's a good question, Romi." Berrati said while flipping his long, curly, black hair out of his face. "I was thinking…a duel?"

Excited chatter broke out in the room and the nudge I got from Abraxis, who seemed beside himself with glee, made me smile, too.

"How are you going to se up the duel, Professor?" Tom asked suddenly.

It annoyed me that the whole class went silent at Tom's voice.

"An even better question, Tom. I've already written it out. With there being only twenty-two of us, it didn't take too long." With a wave of his wand, papers flew to each person in the room.

The top said 'First Round'. I was paired with a girl named Selena Turpin for the first round. Abraxis was paired with Kathryn Bell, a Gryffindor, and Tom had Ryan Davies from Ravenclaw.

"Don't forget who you're paired with, because as soon as you get here next Tuesday, we'll begin. It will be at random, so keep that in mind as well." the young Professor said while sitting on his desk.

I kept my eyes on him as he answered questions for the class. He reminded me of Sirius Black, but younger and without the years of Azkaban to ware him down. He was lean and never sat still. He had dark brown eyes and a near constant five o'clock shadow. He was attractive in that 'he's-an-older-man-and-authority-figure' way. And in the way that he was just attractive.

My body tensed as I felt a large, warm hand on my knee. "Do you like what you see, Hermione? A silky voice whispered in my ear. I grabbed his hand and put it back in his lap.

"Don't pretend you didn't like our…'interaction' as much as I did." he slid his hand back onto my leg, only a little higher. I placed my hand on his to stop it from going higher. "Judging by your now flushed face, you aren't going to refute my observations." he chuckled.

His fingers were rubbing soft circles on my inner thigh. I flinched and let out a somewhat restrained giggle as he ran his fingers over a ticklish spot. I couldn't move his hand off my leg, even with both arms. I didn't want to draw attention to us either.

"Seriously, Smith? You're ticklish here?" he ran over the spot again and this time he squeezed and I let out a squeal and a peal of laughter.. He moved his hand quickly as my laughter caught the attention of the class. I immediately turned my laughs into coughs and Abraxis pounded me on the back. The Professor had an amused look on his face.

"S-sorry, sir. I…" cough, "I'm sorry." Abraxis was covering his mouth with his hand, trying to hide his smile as he rubbed my back. Tom had a look of extreme satisfaction on his face.

"Right, well…on that note, class dismissed!"

I embarrassedly shoved my notes and book into my bag. Tom walked to the door ahead of Abraxis and I, who had his arm around my shoulder trying to cheer me up. I think he thought I was embarrassed at my coughing fit.

"Ms. Smith?" I heard my Professor call. He beckoned me over. I nodded to Malfoy to go ahead of me and I shooed Tom with my hands. He didn't seem pleased with the action.

"Yes, sir?" I asked as I stood in front of him.

"Is everything alright? If you're uncomfortable with the seating arrangement, I could move you next to Romilda?"

"What?" Er, no. I'm fine. I just…had a tickle…in my throat." I laughed nervously.

"Okay, if you say so. Just let me know if you need to be moved. I know being a transfer student must be difficult." he sympathized.

"It's been…different." I shrugged as I sat in the chair he conjured. "It's hard to let go of all the stuff I've been through, you know?"

"Of course. Letting go is part of moving on, but moving on is never forgetting." I heeded his words with caution. He gave me a smile, a genuine one. "I have no doubt of your success here, Hermione."

"Thank you, sir." I said as a tinge of pink coated my cheeks.

"No thank you is needed Hermione. I'm not the only teacher has noticed your intelligence and ability."

"Really?" I said leaning forward in my seat.

"Don't sound so surprised! Your hard work has to pay off somehow, right?" he laughed. "I'm impressed with your complete use of nonverbal magic."

"Ah, well, magic shouldn't have to be spoken to have its full effect, right?" I tried to sound modest, instead of my usual factual self.

"Absolutely! Albus told me about your affinity toward wandless magic. That's not a common skill amongst teenagers." He had his chin resting on his hand casually while his eyes gazed at me imploringly.

And thus began our two hour long discussion about magic, and the war and my involvement. We talked about books, and the annoying art of Divination. We somehow got on to the topic of our personal lives.

"So, where did you go after finishing school?" my tea sat pleasantly on my lap.

"Well, I went to work at the ministry, finished my Auror training at nineteen, and then I worked form the until last year when I heard about this job opening." he explained. We had moved from his desk area to his private office. Sitting in plush arm chairs around the fire. I hadn't thought what I was doing was 'wrong' at the time, but when I walked back to my room later that night, I realized it was probably not a good idea.

"Oh, interesting. So how old does that make you then?"

"I'll be twenty-five this month." I hadn't realized Hogwarts hired teachers that young, but it makes sense. Snape had to of only been around twenty-two when Dumbledore hired him.

"Really? I'll be twent-er, eighteen this month…well actually, I'll be eighteen on Tuesday!" I had completely forgotten about my birthday. Now even more guilt crushed over me as I remembered I kissed a seventeen year old boy. I'm over two years older than him!

'Technically, he's forty-three years older than you…' my subconscious reminded me. Either way, it was wrong.

"Eighteen? Wow. I didn't realize…yeah, never mind! What are you going to do? Anything special?" I smiled and gave him a curious glance.

"No, I haven't really told anyone, I guess. I'll probably treat myself to a new book or some sugar quills." I said honestly.

"Hermione! Come on! You sound like an old woman! You should have a party and get drunk!" I laughed loudly at this. I had been drunk once! Once! With Harry and Ron on Harry's seventeenth birthday. I can still remember cheers-ing to the 'Boy Who Lives, Lives Another Year!'

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm fine with being an old lady." I assured him.

"You should at least tell Tom and Abraxis, Hermione. They'd want to know…"

I doubted that. Abraxis would probably start bouncing off the walls and insist we go to Hogsmead, and Tom, well, I don't know what he would do…but I didn't really want to know either.

"Ah, Professor, it's already six thirty, I should go if I want to catch dinner…" I stood up and slung my bag around my shoulders.

"Oh! Right…I lost track of time." he said sheepishly.

"No problem, sir. I enjoyed talking to you about…everything."

"You too, Hermione," the Defense teacher said with an undecipherable look in his eyes.

"I'll see you next week then, for the duel?" I wasn't sure what it was, but this goodbye definitely felt more awkward than it ever had with any other teacher.

"Yes, see you then, Hermione," I glanced at him when he said my name. Humor had lit up his face.

"Good night, sir," I left quickly, confused about the strange look in his eyes.

I walked down to the Great Hall deep in thought. I shouldn't have met with him for so long. It could be taken incorrectly. Young, female student plus a young, extremely attractive male teacher equals bad things. I mentally berated myself for getting distracted in our easy flow of conversation.

As I walked into the Hall and let my eyes do a sweep of the room, Alice was scowling at me from the Ravenclaw table, Amy Boot and Don Weasley were waving enthusiastically at me from Gryffindor, and the cool grey eyes of Abraxis and the impossibly blue ones of Tom's were gazing at me from Slytherin.

Tom motioned for me to come over to him with a slight nod of his head. Needless to say, I followed. Even though I was still extremely confused as to what 'we' were after our kiss. I knew Tom felt like he had some claim over me, it was obvious in his eyes. And in the way he followed me around and watched any interaction Abraxis and I had. He had given himself permission to touch me whenever he felt necessary. And what had I done? I let it happen, of course. I let him have control over me, however minute it may be. A kiss was just the beginning and I felt obligated to make it stop.

"Hermione," Tom greeted as I sat between him and Abraxis.

"How was your two hour long…discussion with Professor Berrati?" the blonde to my left asked with a smirk.

"Seriously, Malfoy?" I asked. "You're going there?"

He laughed, "What? It's just a question _Smith…_"

"It was fine!" I said snappishly.

"What did you talk about for so long?" Tom joined in the conversation.

"Nothing," vehemence in my tone.

"Hermione," he said as he grabbed my leg. A warning tone in his voice.

I rolled my eyes and counted to ten. "Tom," I hissed as I grabbed his hand, he squeezed harder and I grimaced in pain. "You can't do that. Especially not here, where anyone with eyes can tell you're hand is on my leg under the table! Which hurts, by the way." I stared into his darkening eyes. My own held no fear or chance of backing down. If he wanted to 'talk' in private, fine. Not here, though. A muscle in his jaw clenched at my defiance. His grip slowly loosened his hold.

"Very well. I suppose we can talk in the common room later tonight," the threat didn't go unnoticed.

I turned my head away from him and focused on my food. I couldn't help but feel the warmth that spread from his hand up my body when he touched me. I hadn't known it was possible to dislike someone so much, but want their touch. It was strange how I could ignore his most controlling side and focus on how absurdly beautiful he was. I could ignore how annoyed he made me and focus on the way his voice sounded.

I was upset with myself. I had given up everything I had and loved to travel fifty years into the past just to want to be close…to the Dark Lord? What was I thinking? I still had no clue what I was doing, but I was almost positive my job wasn't to snog Voldemort.

"Hermione?"

"What?" my defeated ton made the boy in front of me raise his eyebrows. "Oh, hello Andy…"

"Good evening. I was wondering if you would take up my offer of our date tonight?" he casually looked at Tom and Abraxis. "Riddle, Malfoy…didn't even see you there."

"Zambini, you can go to…"

"I'd love to," I replied while interrupting Abraxis. I locked eyes with tom on my right for a split second. "I'll see you by the lake at eight." I told Andy quickly. He nodded and went to sit next to Brown. I took one more glance at Tom.

His face was calm and impassive, but his eyes were anything but…

**AN/: So. I made this chapter about 8000 words because I felt horrible for not updating for so long. A lot has happened though. It's been an interesting month. I got a job in Wyoming for the summer, so I think that means I'll have an over abundance of time to write. ****J**** Thank you for keeping up with this, if you still are!**

**Once again, IM SO SORRY!**

**-BAILEY**


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione POV

When I woke up on Saturday, nothing seemed to 'click'. The main thing that didn't click was the whole 'how did I get here' idea. Which wasn't usually something I asked myself when I got up in the morning. As I sat up, I noticed a pounding in my head. I ground out a long sigh, before I flopped back down on my pillow.

'Concentrate, Hermione,' I told myself as I closed my eyes. 'What happened last night...'

-FLASHBACK-

I headed back to my room a little later than I wanted to. Even though it wouldn't take long to get ready for my date, I figured I should at least put in some effort. I hurriedly changed out of my school uniform to put on a dress suitable for a date. It wasn't anything special. A boring, run of the mill 1940's dress. Knee-length, and dark blue.

By the time I had finished with my hair and had applied a small amount of blush and eye shadow, there was a knock that resounded through the dormitory. I grabbed my cloak and met Fedele Zambini at the door with a smile.

"Hermione, cara, you look wonderful," he said with a kiss on my knuckles. "Shall we?"

I followed him through the castle and out the front doors. We chatted amicably on the way down, discussing our first couple weeks at school. I found out that he was taking Divination by choice and that his mother was making him take Muggle Studies. Which he didn't seem too pleased about…

"How is this?" he asked as he indicated to the clearing in front of us that was just on the edge of the lake.

"This is perfect," I said while taking in the moonlight playing on the ripples in the water.

He laid out a blanket for us. I sat down first and he was soon to follow directly next to me. Memories from my first few days at the castle flooded me. This was the same spot Tom saved my life. When I closed my eyes, I could see he worried blue eyes...and I could feel his chest against my back. But, I wasn't thinking about that right now. I was on a date with Fedele Zambini. A kind, sweet Italian boy, who brought me to a wonderful moonlight picnic. Right. Yes. Zambini.

I felt Fedele brush some stray hair off my neck to get my attention. I blushed and sat up straighter.

"So, uh, any plans after graduation?" I asked casually.

Fedele only smiled while he reached into his bag, "Butterbeer, Hermione?"

I nodded vigorously. Anything to make me less awkward. I heard him pop the tops and he handed me one. When the sweet, bubbly contents hit my mouth, I relaxed almost instantly.

"Ahh," I sighed in contentment as I layed down to look at the stars. He laid back next to me and lazily drew circles on my hand. I noticed he wasn't looking at the stars with me, but staring intently at the side of my head. I let my eyes close to take in the calm of the moment. Even though I wasn't particularly fond of him touching my hand, I was too content to care.

I could almost pretend I was in a different place, at a different time, with a different person. In a new world, where Tom wasn't the bad guy. And his hand was resting gently on my stomach while the other held my jaw as he kissed my neck. I sighed. If only that could be true, if only it really were his hand sliding over my dress to touch my breast. And his warm breath on my ear. His warm hand that slid up my thigh.

'For a dream this seems awfully real…" I thought dazedly as I tried to open my eyes.

My dream came crashing down around me as I could barely make out Zambini's form straddling me. My 'no' came out as a soft whisper. I could barely move my limbs to force him off of me. My body betrayed my desire to push him away, as my mind was reeling and scared, it seemed to crave the contact of another human.

I tried with all that I had to raise my voice to a firm, louder, "No!" I managed to shove him off to the side and barely got to my feet before I fell down to my knees.

"No…" I whimpered helplessly into my lap. "Please."

I felt Zambini bend down behind me to pick my up by my armpits.

"Come on now, Hermione," he dragged me, "you were enjoying that."

I couldn't speak this time so I just shook my head back and forth as hard as I could. He was now undoing the buttons on the front of my dress.

"Mmnnagghh," i screamed, but his hand quickly muffled the noise.

"Now, now, Hermione. This is completely harmless. We're just two teenagers fooling around by the lake. You want this. I know you do."

What had happened? He was so kind. We were just laying there and now I could hardly talk, and my body felt heavy and warm. I tried to scream one more time as tears ran down my cheeks. This was it. I was going to be _molested_ by the lake by some boy...who...who poisoned me!

"Hey!" I heard a deep voice yell from somewhere off in the distance, "What do you think you're doing?"

I felt Zambini jump off of me and scoot back several feet.

"Nothing, sir. We-we were just sitting by the lake…" Zambini said in a small voice.

I was able to crank my neck to look behind me. Professor Berrati stood a couple feet away with his wand held out in front of him with a bright Lumos. He looked down at me. I guess he noticed my buttons undone and my tear stained face, because his face was set in an angry glare.

"Zambini. Get your arse up to the Headmaster's office. I will be there in twenty minutes. If you are not there, I will come find you." He said in a low tone.

"I wasn't...doing...anything, sir. I swear!" He stuttered.

"To. The. School. Now." He left no room for argument. "Hermione, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Berrati was crouched down next to me, I managed to nod my head. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a sitting position. Where his hand was touching me was on fire. He was looking at me in concern as he managed to pull me into a standing position. My body felt stronger now. It was tingling all over. I leaned into him, my forehead pressing into his chin.

It was like my body was ice, and anywhere I touched him, would turn to fire. It took all the effort I had to not moan in contact. The rational side of my brain, what little rationality I had left that is, was urging me to keep my body in check. I let him steer me toward the castle. I took one slow step at a time. Concentrated purely on not pressing my body into his. I could feel his big, firm hand pressed into the center of my back. I could feel each pad of his fingers. Each one sending currents of electricity into my body.

'A little bit longer, Hermione...then you can lock yourself in your room,' I pleaded with myself desperately. I was losing all resolve. I could hardly see straight from this...desire running through my blood.

We stopped abruptly as Professor Berrati yelled out a name, "Tom!"

I looked up to see a blurry Tom rounding the main staircase.

"What happened?" He asked with a harshness to his voice.

"I need you to take the Head Girl back to her room. I found her like this by the lake with another student. I think she's been bewitched or given some sort of potion. Please take her, and I will come back and check on you in an hour or so…"

-End Flashback-

I couldn't believe it. Zambini had slipped something in my drink. But what had happened after that? Was Zambini in trouble? Did Professor Berrati figure out what happened? I stood up and stretched, my head still pounding. I made my way to my desk to take a Pain Reliever Potion, delighted in it's almost immediate results.

I walked to the bathroom door, wanting to wash all remnants of Zambini's hands off my body. He was definitely going to pay. I was going to kill him. Or something close to. Almost as soon as I opened the door to the bathroom, Tom had opened his. He stopped abruptly and stared at me. There was a strange look in his eyes. Soft, yet hard. Inquisitive, yet passive.

"What?" I asked, "Is my hair a mess?"

Tom just shook his head and backed slowly out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

'Well _that_ was strange…'

Tom's POV

Berrati handed the stumbling girl over to me. What the fuck had Zambini done? I knew I couldn't trust that weasel. He was a bumbling idiot, that thought he deserved the world. We would have to see if he will still think the same way after my wand pays him a visit.

"Hermione?" I asked tentatively. Her face was scrunched up in and unreadable way. Her hand was trembling as she placed it on my arm. I started to walk slowly back to our dorm.

"What happened?" I tried again.

She let out a small mumble and I tightened my hold on her arm.

"Well, we will be there in a minute. And you can sit and tell me what happened."

I had barely made it three steps more when she stopped me with a hand on my chest. I looked down at her in confusion. Her eyes were heavily lidded and her voice came out in a soft, husky whisper, "Tom."

I took a deep breath as her other hand landed on my chest as well. She began to run her hands agonizingly slow down to my belt.

"Hermione…" I barely got out before she pushed me roughly against the wall. I was too shocked to do anything. Had I secretly been dreaming about this for the past couple weeks? I couldn't seem to think at all as she lowered her mouth to my neck, placing hot kisses up to my jaw line.

"Kiss me," she said roughly.

I had no choice as she crashed my head down to meet hers in a passionate embrace. She moaned and jumped into my arms, making me stumble forward a couple paces. A part of me knew this wasn't right, that I shouldn't be kissing her back or wrapping an arm around her waist or sliding my hand up her thigh and on to her backside. But the other part of me, the teenage boy part, couldn't seem to pull myself away. Her soft lips and heavy, breathy pants were almost too much to take.

This wasn't the Hermione I knew though. The Hermione I knew was passionate, yes, but this one was fueled by some unknown desire. This wasn't right. I ran my tongue across hers one last time before I forcefully pulled away. I shoved her off of me, and onto the ground. It didn't seem to deter her though as she stood right back up and stalked toward me. This was my last resort. I had to do it. I pulled my wand.

"Hermione!" I shouted. "Stop or I have to curse you…Hermione!"

I could do nothing else as I silently stunned her.

I shook my head as I stared down at her body. What the fuck did Zambini do?

I managed to carry her body the rest of the way to the dorm. I laid her down on her bed and covered her up. I couldn't bring myself to feel guilty for kissing her. It's what I wanted. Or at least it's what I thought I wanted. And I usually got what I wanted.

I decided to go to the library to look through a couple books that would make a person act the way Hermione did. I had a feeling the answer would probably be in a book about love potions.

The next morning when I saw her in the bathroom, I stopped and waited for her to yell at me. She was sure to yell. That's what Hermione did. She yelled. When nothing came but a quizzical look and a question about her hair, I had to assume she had no recollection of her actions. I was at a loss, was I supposed to casually bring her sexual harrassment up...or was I supposed to keep it a secret? Instead of saying anything, I backed out of the room.

I did a quick Scourgify over my body and went to the Slytherin common room to get Abraxis. We had some business to take care of, in the form of Fedele Zambini.

After I had gotten through telling Malfoy about the previous night, we made it our mission to find Zambini and get some answers. Our luck picked up as we caught him sulking through the owlery door right after lunch.

Malfoy took the steps two at a time to meet him halfway.

"Oi! Zambini!" He looked up just in time to have Malfoy's fist collide with his nose. I actually let out a small laugh at the scandalized look on Zambini's face.

"What the hell?" He screamed as he regained his balance.

"That was for Hermione," I said as I came up behind Abraxis. "And this…" I punched him in the gut, "is for Hermione, too." I took pleasure in the way he crumpled in a ball on the stairs.

"Now, do you want to tell us what happened? Or are we going to have to force it out of you?" Abraxis growled in a menacing tone as he leaned above him.

Zambini shook his head and scooted away from us. "It was a simple Lust Potion! Hardly a couple drops! Nothing bad was going to happen! It merely just fuels a person's attraction. I was just helping her along...if I had known she was going to react so badly to the bloody potion I would have gone a different route!"

I grabbed Malfoy's shoulder as he went to pummel the boy again.

"Let this be a warning to you, Zambini. If I ever, _ever_, see you around Hermione again, I will personally make sure you never walk again. Are we understood?" I let my voice drop an octave as the threat hung in the air.

It was taking all that I had to not use the Cruciatus curse on him. Hermione was mine! What made him think he could touch her in any way?

"Yes," he said after a while. "You won't have to worry about me anyway. I've been suspended until the end of November."

I couldn't hide my smirk. "Good."

Hermione's POV

I let the calming waters of the bath soothe me into an almost sleep-like lull.

I believe I was somewhere in-between awake and asleep when images started flashing back to me.

Tom and me.

Me and Tom.

Me shoving him into a wall.

Snogging him senseless.

The raw attraction that was strumming through my body.

The ache in my abdomen at his touch. That I could still almost feel.

His hands on my body.

His arms wrapped around me.

I was definitely awake now.

'Oh my god…' I slowly sunk into the bath, letting out a scream while I was under water. 'What have I done?'


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: HP isn't mine.**

**Thank you for reading, if you are…**

Chapter 9

Hermione's POV

I spent most of the next few days reading in my room with Annie securely wrapped around my shoulders. We hadn't had much time together the past few days. She didn't think much of me avoiding my next door neighbor, but after my revelation on Saturday, I could hardly look at Tom, let alone talk to him. I had barely left my dorm room at all the past two days. Unfortunately, each time I had left-Tom happened to be wherever I went.

First, when I had left for dinner on Saturday. He sat down right next to me. He either chose to not notice the color rising to my cheeks, or he relished in it. I couldn't tell. Tom hadn't seemed too worried about anything. He had nonchalantly filled his plate and idly chatted with Abraxis. Until the latter turned his eyes on me.

"Hermione," Malfoy had whispered. "Tom told me the gist of what happened between you and Zambini. I just want to let you know that he will never come near you again, and that Berrati and the Headmaster had him suspended for a month."

'What else did he tell you?' I silently wondered.

I looked over at Tom, he seemed fine. Like last night had never even happened. Maybe it hadn't happened? Had I made that up? I squinted my eyes at him to see if there were any underlying emotions he was masking. There weren't. I nodded my thanks to Abraxis, and left the Great Hall shortly thereafter.

Then on Sunday, when I ran into him in the hallway on my way to Professor Berrati's office, we locked eyes. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from him even though I could feel my blush staining my face. That was when I noticed the weird look in his eyes. It was like something clicked in his brain and his blue eyes held a look of understanding in them...and something else, _embarrassment_?

'Oh god. He knows I know that he knows that I remember...' I thought to myself. 'Wait, what?'

I had shaken my head to clear my thoughts and when I glanced back up he was gone.

By the time I had made it to Professor Berrati's office, I felt that my cheeks would never return to their natural colour.

"Hermione," the Professor said to rouse me from my thoughts, "how are you feeling?"

I gave him a small smile in return. I was embarrassed to be around him, too. He had to of known that I was under a Lust Potion? Of course he had, he was the one that got Zambini suspended. The blush had spread down my chest now.

"I don't want you to think that all Hogwart's boys are like Zambini. I know you're new to this school and are probably scared, but don't be...that was my first time ever hearing about anything like that." His eyes took in my form. A concerned, yet appreciative look in his eyes. "You know, it takes a very powerful, resilient person to fight off a potion like the one he gave you. I'm proud of you."

"It wasn't without struggle, sir, I assure you…" I managed to mumble out.

He gave me a smile and seemed to shake his head to clear his thoughts. "Right. Well, I want you to be comfortable here, Hermione. Know that you can come to me whenever you're feeling out of sorts or if anything is bothering you."

'Yes, I'm sure we would be having a different conversation if I hadn't held my ground and not tried to snog you to death...' I thought bitterly.

"Thank you, Professor, " I said outloud. "I appreciate your concern."

"You're welcome, Hermione," he said politely. "I will fully understand if you want to take an extra day to collect yourself and get some extra rest."

"I just might do that, actually, sir," An extra day to lie around and read? I couldn't say no.

Now all of that had led me to today. I had made it through my Tuesday classes without anyone saying anything to me about Zambini. It made me feel better knowing that Tom and Abraxis hadn't mentioned anything to the rest of the school. I could just go on pretending that nothing had happened.

When I made it to the Defense classroom, there was a note pinned to the door.

'Duel Today! Everyone meet in the Great Hall,' It read.

I had completely forgotten the duel was to begin today, what with the Zambini drama and my enhanced libido, it had slipped my mind. I liked the way Professor Berrati had set up the duel. Not with just our class participating, but all the seventh years from all four houses.

I walked over to Jesse when I made it to the Great Hall. He greeted me with a half hug, while I smiled cautiously at Alice. Who gave me an awkward grimace and walked away to stand with Aimee Boot. Jesse chuckled and pulled me tighter to his side, "She'll get over whatever it is eventually. Red heads, you know?"

I didn't have the chance to respond, because the Professor chose that moment to jump up on the conjured dueling platform to get the attention of the students.

"Good afternoon, students! Welcome to the first round of the Dueling Competition!" There was a round of cheers and catcalls. "As you can tell, I've decided to just mix both of my seventh year classes into this duel, so we can all have a chance to study and learn from each other. You should all know who you're up against first, so let's get this thing going so we can have it finished by the time dinner is supposed to start!"

He started to call out names, and one by one students ambled up to the platform. Some of the duels were relatively short. For instance, Tom versus Davies lasted about a minute and a half. While some were longer, Corrine versus Jesse. Which lasted about eight minutes, and ended up with Jesse sending a well placed shield charm up while disarming Corrine in the meantime.

When my turn came to duel Selena Turpin, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had never really gotten to know Selena, I had seen her around-mostly hanging out with the other Hufflepuffs. I hopped on stage and took my stance. I hoped that I could keep it simple. Not having to pull any tricks I had learned from my time in training with Ron and Harry. Selena was just a normal seventeen year old girl from the 1940's. They didn't put too much on females and dueling in the forties. It should be simple. There had been only two others girls to win their rounds so far, and that had been Romilda who had been up against Alice-who seemed to afraid to raise her wand. And the other had been some girl in Hufflepuff.

"Three, two, one…" Berrati had counted down.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Selena had said first.

I was easily able to step to the side of her spell, while sending a simple, 'Expelliarmus!', toward her. She blocked it with a hasty 'Protego'. It continued on like that for a couple minutes until I caught the Slytherin boys smirking and shaking their heads, like Selena and I's duel was some sort of joke.

I gritted my teeth and decided it was time to end the duel. I cast a tripping jinx, a stinging hex, and a disarming spell in quick succession. It caught my opponent off guard, and her wand had sailed into my waiting hand.

"Congratulations, Hermione!" the Professor shouted while a round of polite applause had started from the side lines. I walked over to Selena to hand her back her wand, who was still on the floor from my tripping jinx.

"Good round," I said as I extended my other hand to help her up.

She ignored it, "Yeah, thanks Smith." She got up and walked back over to a group of sympathetic Hufflepuffs.

"So how's that for a birthday present? An advancement to the next round?" Berrati said as he came up behind to me to clap a hand on my shoulder. He said that loud enough for the whole room to hear. I smiled and happened a quick glance over to where Tom and Abraxis were standing. They were both frowning.

"Perfect. It's lovely. Thank you, Professor," I said as I made my way over to the boys. Purely focusing on Abraxis, so I wouldn't have to make eye contact with Tom.

"Congratulations on your duel, Smith," Tom said casually without looking at me.

"Right, yes. Congratulations…" Abraxis said in a monotone voice. "Were you just going to not tell us it was your birthday...or…?"

I cringed, "Abraxis, I-I...I don't really like celebrating my birthday. It's just...this is the first year without my friends and family. And, eighteen is just another year before thirty" I laughed jokingly. "Besides, you wouldn't know what to get me anyway." I tried to end on a less depressive note.

"That doesn't even matter, Hermione. I still would have like to have known it was one of my 'actual' friend's birthdays. You know when mine is, and when Tom's is…"

"I know, I know...I'm sorry! I'll be sure to make you privy to all important dates in my life," I apologized hastily.

He put a hand on my shoulder, "That's what friends do. Either way, happy birthday, Hermione."

I looked over at Tom to see him examining me closely. He gave a half-hearted grin and said, "Happy birthday." Before walking away.

I didn't have much time to mull over my thoughts, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

It was Alice.

"Hermione, I just wa-wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for being such an atrocity of a friend the last week or so. I just got worked up over nothing and I didn't mean to say those things to you. I know we aren't the closest of friends, but I still consider you to be a good friend of mine. And I really, really hope you can find it in you to forgive me, because it would just ma-"

"Alice!" I interrupted her. "It's fine. It's all in the past. You're forgiven."

She beamed at me and pulled me in for a bone crushing hug.

"Oh, yay! Thank god!" She cheered as I patted her on the back awkwardly as I pulled away. We idly chatted about random things as they cleared the Great Hall to set the tables for dinner.

Alice had asked me to sit with her during the meal, so we could keep on talking. If this was what it took for her to not be mad, I guessed I'd have to do what she asked. I kept my eyes peeled for Tom. A part of me decided that I needed to clear the air with him. Before my date with Zambini, Tom had been possessive and demanding-his usual self. It wasn't like him to give me space or to be coy or embarrassed or whatever he was! I had to talk to him. To get things back to how they were. Or close to. I could do without the whole 'must control Hermione' thing that he had going on…

"Alice, I am going to get up to my dorms...need to finish Charms…" I mumbled as I stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.

Tom wasn't in the common room, so I went to my room and left the door ajar so I could hear if he walked in through the door. I put my bag down beside my desk and went to lay on my bed, when I noticed a single red rose with a card next to it on my pillow.

I picked up the rose and pressed it gently to my nose.

The card read in perfect, scrawling cursive,

'Hermione,

I had made it my plan to learn everything I could about you, and yet I forgot to ask when your birthday was. This is my bad, and I apologize. I feel as if we need to talk. I know you remember. And I'm sorry if you find yourself embarrassed.

I, on the other hand, have no complaints. But for the sake of your modesty, and whatever other unsightly feelings you may be having-we can forget it happened, if you would like?

Happy birthday.

Tom M. Riddle'

I set the card back down from where I had picked it up. He had no complaints? That meant that he enjoyed himself? Did that mean he wanted to do that again? They had kissed twice. And both times were passionate and wonderful all in themselves. Did that mean she wanted to do that again?

I laid face first onto my comforter. What if this wasn't part of my destiny? What if this was just interrupting what I was originally supposed to do?

Alright, logically, if I dated Tom-it might be a wonderful romance. One full of passion and attraction. But it would also be full of possession and dominance. He would never let me feel like I was on par with him. I would always be a 'goal' in his eyes.

_That's what he is to you, though…_ the rational half of my conscious chimed in.

True. That was true. He was my project, of sorts. Must solve before world domination.

If I didn't date Tom, things might be able to continue as usual. We could keep 'this', whatever 'this' was, going.

I needed more time.

I needed more time to decide my fate.

I heard the common room door slam, and I jumped up from my bed. I started to wring my hands in front of me nervously. I could hear his footsteps approaching my door. I could see his perfect, masculine hand pushing open my door. I could see his well kept, leather shoes crossing the threshold. I could see the flat planes of his chest, and the square of his jaw. And finally, I could see the candlelight dancing in his dark blue eyes.

"Hermione…" he said slowly.

"T-Tom," I stuttered out weakly.

"You got my note," he pointed out.

"I did," I said as I continued to wring my hands.

"And?" he asked imploringly.

"And...I-I don't ...I don't want to forget, Tom," I finished defeatedly. "I genuinely enjoyed every second of that kiss, and it wasn't just from that stupid potion, okay? This is driving me crazy, because I'm not even sure what 'this' is," I indicated between us. "Can we just go on like we were for just a little bit longer? I-I need more time."

Tom had his eyebrows raised.

"Hermione," he started slowly. "when I said I had no complaints, I meant it. I had no complaints about kissing you-which was hard for me to admit. When I said that, it wasn't a hint at a bigger picture. I'm not looking for...for a relationship with you. I just was telling you that I enjoyed our encounters and I wouldn't be upset if it was to happen again. I'm not even saying that it has to happen again..."

Okay. There was that. He put his feelings on the situation out in the open and so did I. There was no pressure. We could progress as friends at our leisure.

"Okay," I said confidently.

"Okay?" he asked as I walked toward him and stopped right in front of him

"Yes, okay. No pressure, no awkwardness. Nothing. We can go back to you being a pushy, demanding arse, and I'll go back to being the brilliant, top student that I am," I joked.

On a whim, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. His body stiffened as he timidly placed his arms around my waist. We stayed like that for a second. Just breathing and taking in each others presence. I pulled away before it could turn into an embrace. We locked eyes before letting go. His face was mere inches from mine and his blue eyes had darkened to something akin to the night sky. I could have easily let myself fall in to catch his lips-but I didn't, I pulled away and gave him a reassuring smile.

**Alright, yes! Finished another chapter. Thank god.**

**I know that it is kind of weird that I haven't updated this story in three years and now I'm adding chapters again, but yeah. I don't know. Let's just go with it. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, yo!**

**Another chapter to add to this slowly growing story.**

**I have a feeling it is going to start to get more intense (sexually) in like the next two or three chapters. So prepare yourselves. **

**Also, thank you to those who have reviewed! I'm pumped!**

**-ImperialGoddess-123, hateme101, and the two guests-you guys rule.**

**Read and review and tell me what you think.**

**Chapter Ten**

-Halloween-

Tom's POV

"Boot!" I yelled over the group of students who were helping set up for the upcoming Halloween soiree. "I've showed you how to do the incantation three times now, if you aren't capable of a simple modified engorgement charm, then maybe you shouldn't be a prefect…" The girl's cheeks reddened as one of the other prefects made their way over to help her enlarge a pumpkin that would be the entrance to the maze.

Instead of just a corn maze, someone had suggested they had a dance as well, so there was twice as much work to do and no one seemed competent enough to do it. I walked around the perimeter of the dance floor. Almost everything had been set up. There had been a makeshift dance floor set up with tables surrounding it. The candles had been charmed and were floating in mid-air above the whole area. Ghost and bat cut-outs were charmed and zooming amongst the candles. Pumpkins of all shapes were being placed sporadically around the grounds, all leading up to the large pumpkin that would be the beginning of the maze.

I watched Hermione from a distance as she taught a couple prefects a spell of her own invention. She said it was a copy of a muggle 'fog machine' that apparently dispensed pretend fog out of a box. I, of course, thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard, but she assured me the ambiance would be more indicative of a 'spooky Halloween night'.

Things had been at a standstill between us for the past few weeks. Ever since she admitted to feeling something for me, and ever since I admitted to having no qualms about kissing her-things had just stopped. I didn't touch her at all, I let Abraxis be around her without me, I didn't say anything too forward, and I definitely, _definitely _didn't kiss her again.

At some point I had been desperate enough for some sort of meaningful interaction and I agreed to 'work' with her, since her refusal to join me as an 'employee'. Which has allowed me to keep her at a distance and keep her away from my meeting with the Knights.

I couldn't tell her about what we did at our meetings or what we talked about even, but I could lie to her. As far as she knew, the meetings were more of a gentlemen's gathering. Where we discussed pureblood hierarchy and the future of the wizarding world.

Which wasn't a complete lie. I just didn't tell her that our main goal was the eradication of mudbloods in our society. It was all a need to know basis, really. As for our business in the whole thing, I asked her for help for some research. Mostly just on heirlooms of the founders, which was a general enough request the she couldn't possibly have any ideas on what I really needed the information for...

From across the floor, I watched her swish her wand around in a zigzag pattern and laugh when one of the prefect's attempts at copying her movements resulted in his wand flying through the air. The wind had blown her hair around her face and as she flipped her head around we locked eyes. Her brown eyes matched mine in intensity, but our faces were a mask of perfect indifference.

I wanted nothing more than to grab her face and smash my lips on to hers, to pull her body as close as it could get to mine, to lay her gently onto the soft, green fabric of my comforter…

I blinked and turned away. We hadn't made eye contact like that since our duel last month. Of course we had both won our first round, and had been the two finalist for the class. Of course.

-Flashback-

I could still see the blush on her cheeks; the determination in her eyes. I felt her magic swell up around her and I felt mine push back against hers. Caressing it, almost. I watched her lithe, but supple form move into a dueling stance, and I felt mine following suit. We had locked eyes, and the simple disarming spells flew from our mouths simultaneously.

I briefly wondered if the rest of the class could feel our magic moving around each other. If they, too, were being suffocated by the tension. Slowly, but surely we let stronger, less known defensive spells leave our wands. We were at an impasse. Neither of us willing to let show our darker sides, neither of us willing to give in to our desires.

The room was bright with color. Spells rebounding and flying in all directions from the different shields and objects we were throwing in our paths. At one point, my yew wand sent a spell at her, just as she sent one at me. The spells collided in midair, creating a static electricity that crackled throughout the room. I heard the gasps and screams of our fellow students as they pushed farther away from the duel and lined up against the walls. I could hardly hear the loud voice of Professor Berrati yelling over the crackling of the spells, telling us to drop our wands. I met Hermione's eyes through the commotion. It was just days ago that we were wrapped around each other. Just days ago that I felt every hormone in my body reaching out toward her. Her eyes had a look of desperation and something else lingering in their depths and her hair was whipping around her face while her skirt was flapping at her knees. We pulled our wands in opposite directions, and the spells dropped.

She opened her hand as I summoned her wand to me. And that was it. The duel was over.

-End Flashback-

Hermione's POV

I walked back to my dorm in a daze as I went through the final prep list for the dance. Everything seemed to be right on schedule. Which was strange. Nothing had gone wrong during the set-up and the maze was completely finished. Filled with all the spooky Halloween things one would ever expect to find in a 'Haunted Corn Maze'.

Then why did I feel apprehensive?

It could be because of what I overheard while I was patrolling the halls of the third floor corridor last week...which had set me on edge ever since. Coincidentally, I hadn't even been trying to overhear anything.

I knew it was his voice. Who else could have such a deep, melodic, mesmerizing voice-while still sound like a controlling, arrogant sociopath?

From what I could tell, he was addressing a group of boys, judging from their deep murmurs and idle chat that filled the room.

"My friends, my Knights...I have some good news," Tom's voice echoed into the hall. "I now know where I need to go to get one of the items I'd mentioned to you previously. As you know, I am the Heir of Slytherin...a direct descendent. I have recently come across some information on a couple of other living relatives I did not know that I had. An old wizarding family. One that has not been heard of for many, many years."

I had clasped my hand over my mouth to keep my gasp from being heard. He was talking about the Gaunts. I knew that this day would come, especially since he'd asked me if I would help him research relics from the founders age. In all my haste to keep my romantic feelings for Tom at bay, I had concentrated all my energy in the wrong place. When I should have been putting all my focus on keeping Tom from becoming the man who murders pretty much everyone I know, instead I was focusing on how my skin burned when he touched me. I focused on how my heart would hammer in my chest. I focused on how it would feel if he were to run his fingers under the hem of my shirt. I was losing it.

"The last of my family live just outside of a muggle village called Little Hangleton. If all goes as planned, I can apparate to the village and back all within the hours of our next Hogsmeade trip," Tom finished with haughtiness in his voice. "Now, what I need from you is a patrol to keep anyone from noticing. Malfoy and Flint, I want both of you on Hermione. Fint-disillusion yourself and tail her the whole time I'm gone. The girl is far too perceptive for her own good. I want two of you on the castle and the rest of you in Hogsmeade. Spread out. Keep out of the way and be alert. Do we understand?" I started to back away from the hallway as quickly and silently as I could. I made it around the corner and up to the sixth floor before I stopped to catch my breath.

I had replayed the scene over and over for the past week. I had no choice. It was time for me to take a trip to visit the Gaunt household. I had to take Slytherin's ring and hide it before Tom could get his hands on it. And I had to go tonight. After the dance

I had my dress from fourth year laid out on my bed. I had my hair halfway piled on my head, while the rest spilled down my back. I didn't go overboard with my makeup, it was mostly noticeable around my eyes, where I tried my hardest to give myself a smokey eye.

I decided to go alone to the dance. Not that I hadn't been asked, I was just going to be too busy making sure everything went well to be concerned with a date. I also heard that Tom wasn't taking anyone to the dance either. The petty teenage girl inside me was secretly elated.

I looked back down at the dress and took out my wand to make some alterations. First of all, I lengthened it a few more inches and added sleeves that went just past my shoulders. I took the neckline down a couple inches and changed the color to varying shades of silver and grey. I flipped it over and cut out the back completely.

Overall, I was happy with my new design.

I dug through my dresser for my beaded bag, I figured I would need it if I was going off campus to adventure into the unknown to steal the Resurrection Stone. For emergencies, of course.

I stared at myself in the mirror for a minute before I left. I looked...old. Like a well developed eighteen year old. My breast weren't large by any means, but the way my dress dipped down my chest gave the illusion of an actual bust. I adjusted it a little to make it less eye popping.

'Alright, Hermione. You are Head Girl, and you are an amazing witch. You've trained for years and are fully capable of taking care of yourself. Do not let a handsome man deter you from your goals. Right? Right.' I nodded to my reflection and opened my bedroom door.

"Hermione," a voice sounded, "you look wonderful."

I stopped and raised my eyes to the voice that had been haunting my dreams for months.

"Tom," I said as I took in his appearance, "_you_ look wonderful as well."

Tom's appearance was impeccable as always. Not a hair was out of place. His black suit was tailored to perfection. His broad shoulders look even more masculine than usual. His fingers were twirling his wand around in lazy circles.

"I thought we might walk down together, seeing as we're both dateless and we're the Head students," he finished with a heart stopping smile.

"That sounds great, Tom, lead the way," I smiled as I took his arm.

He led me down the corridor to the entrance hall.

"Hermione, I think that I should have mentioned this before, but Dippet is insisting that we open the dance…" He said as he opened the doors to lead us out into the magically lit up grounds.

"Ah, there we are! Now we can begin!" Dippet said before I could form a response to Tom.

I felt him drag me out into the middle of floor and place his hand on my waist, his fingers lightly reached around and touched the small of my back. I set my hand about his neck and he led us into a slow waltz.

"Thanks for the heads up on the dance…" I said jokingly. He pulled me a little closer as we spun in wide circles. I could feel his breath moving across my neck. He laughed.

"You really do look breathtaking tonight, Hermione," his lips brushed my ear.

I felt the heat rise up my neck. I couldn't meet his eyes so I looked around and was immediately grateful for the fact that other couples had decided to join us. I glanced back up at him as he took a step away from me. He pulled my hand up to his lips.

"Meet me later?" he asked in a husky voice.

I could only nod as he turned and walked away.

I spent the rest of the evening chatting amicably with Alice and a few other girls from our year. I saw Romi and her posse glaring at me from the entrance to the maze. I shook my head at them and waved my fingers at them innocently. I still hated her and I was still trying to think of a way to get back at her. Although I had noticed that her and her small group of friends were being ostracized by the men in the Slytherin house. It wasn't much, but it was something. And I knew Tom had a role in it.

"Hermione! Hermione!" I heard a voice calling behind me.

Jesse, Aimee, and a couple other prefects were making their way over to me in an excited roar. They grabbed me by the arm and drug me over to the entrance of the maze.

"Let's go, Hermione! We're lining up to get into the maze!" Jesse laughed as he lightly pushed me in front of him in line. Aimee was in front of me and she was patiently waiting for the person in front of her to disappear around the corner in the maze.

Once she made it around the corner, I made my way into the maze. I didn't even want to go in the maze at all. It was getting chilly and I left my cloak in my room. I heard a cheery, 'Good luck, Hermione!' from behind me as I took off in the opposite direction of Aimee. For how many people I had seen go in the maze before me, it was eerily silent. I quietly praised the fifth year prefects for finally figuring out the smoke effects spell I had shown them.

I took a left, a right, another right, and a another left and found myself at a fourway stop. We had actually done a really good job on this maze. It was nothing compared to the Triwizard Tournament maze, but still...I was proud of our prefects.

I went straight this time and stopped when I heard a crunching noise behind me. I pulled my wand and quickly turned to face the noise. There was nothing. With a renewed sense of awareness, I continued on…

I made another turn and another and was starting to get frustrated. A part of me wanted to just cheat and use 'point me' as a way to get out of here. I sighed as I came to yet another dead end.

I abruptly turned and ran into the hard chest of Tom Riddle. His fingers grasped my upper arm as I stumbled slightly.

"Whoa, there," he said lightly.

"T-Tom, you startled me…" I stated obviously.

"I could tell. I didn't mean to sneak up on you, it was an accident," I nodded at him.

"How long have you been in here, Tom?"

"For about fifteen minutes, you?" he asked.

"Too long," I said with a laugh. "Shall we?"

He indicated for me to go first. I took a couple steps and felt something slide over my foot. I screamed and jumped back into Tom.

"What was that?" I panted heavily.

"That was probably one of the 'spooky bonuses' I heard the professors talking about earlier…" he said as he looked around on the ground.

"A spooky bonus?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"Come on," he said as he stalked in front of me. We rounded a corner as the fog started to get thicker. It would be just my luck that I would find myself alone in a maze with a man who had preoccupied my thoughts so heavily for the past several weeks

I heard him curse a couple steps in front of me, but the fog was so thick I couldn't see if he had stopped or not. So it was me that cursed when I ran into his back hard and we went tumbling down a hill that had popped out of nowhere. I landed with a 'oompf' on top of something else that made an even louder 'oompf'.

I managed to get out a breathless 'sorry' before I tried to roll off of him. I made it halfway off before I felt his hands move to wrap around my waist. I stopped what I was doing to look in his eyes. I could hardly see them through the dense fog, but the moonlight gave just enough light that I could see that they were the same midnight blue they were so many weeks before…

"Wait," he said in a voice I had never heard him use. His left hand slid up the my back. It's soft warmth leaving a tingling trail up my spine. His other hand came around to to cup my face.

My eyes traveled between his eyes and his lips. When he brought his mouth to mine, my body shuddered in relief. I could feel the desperation in his body through his lips. Everything was at a standstill. I was laying on the ground, passionately kissing the future dark lord. And nothing could be more perfect. I let my tongue reach out for his and he met it with a deep moan. I moved my body up his so I could have a better angle. Both of his hand moved down my back and grabbed my butt to pull me closer.

I couldn't hold in my desire anymore. My body and mind betrayed me and I ground my hips into his as I let out a moan that seemed to stem from deep inside my stomach. How could this be so perfect?

He shifted my weight so I was fully on top of him, one leg on either side of his body. He pushed my hips down toward his as he arched his toward me. I had never felt anything quite like this. Every inch of me was cold and yet warm at the same time. My hands couldn't stop roaming over his chest, his stomach, his arms-anywhere I could reach. There was a pleasant ache starting in my lower abdomen that was building with each push of our hips.

If I didn't pull away now, I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

"Tom, tom...wait-stop, we can't do this h-here…" I was able to pant out as I moved my face away from his. I quickly pushed myself up and off him and climbed up and out of the little hole we had fallen into. "Come on, Tom, let's get out of this maze."

I watched him as he tried to get his breathing under control. He stood up slowly and adjusted himself. I took out my wand and cast a quick 'Scourgify' over both of us. Tom walked over to me slowly and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

"I can get us out of here," he took my hand and led me back the way we came. There appeared to be holes cut out of the bushes, and in the distance you could see the light of the dance floor. "It wasn't an accident that I found you."

**Wahhhh! There you go. There it is. There she is and he is and they are.**

**This took me literally all day to write because I couldn't keep myself from getting distracted. So I'm sorry if this is the most well written chapter.**

**But, I hope you keep reading. And I hope you tell me what you think.**


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